


Shadows always fade in the light

by kat_isnt_kool



Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Arianna is a good mom, Fredric is a bad person, Gen, I am dumb ;-;, I made myself want to cry, I shouldn't write late at night, I wrote him poorly Sry, Poor Varian, Redemption, References to Depression, References to Suicide, Some Swearing, Villian Varian, darker themes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2020-03-16
Packaged: 2020-12-31 16:42:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 22,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21148901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kat_isnt_kool/pseuds/kat_isnt_kool
Summary: Varian is still bent on saving his dad and getting Revenge.Arianna is plagued with the memories of being kidnapped and attacked.So why does Varian ponder the outcomes of different choices he could have made?So why does Arianna think of the child rotting in prison?(ABANDONED PROJECT)





	1. Varian: Day two

**Author's Note:**

> A series of events from the views of Varian and Arianna mostly (A few other characters may have brief views shown). Takes place in an AU where S2 happened a few months after S1. Begins after the Season One Finale.
> 
> Sorry for any spelling issues, and there most likely will not be scheduled uploads to this. 
> 
> (Also, what do you think of the name? Any good? Still debating if it was a good name ;-;)
> 
> Enjoy!

Darkness. Void of light. Nothing. Silence, comforting silence and darkness. Shadows coming in and dragging him down into a world void of life. Peace and Quiet. Death.

This is where Varian wished he could be, but the marching of the guards and distant shouts of other prisoners kept him from that place. It had only been two days since the Battle of Old Corona, but to him it felt like months. It was the same routine, think, sleep, remember, sleep. At least he had gotten to live some of his life before being thrown into this hellhole like garbage.

His mind went back to that day as he leaned his head against the cold stone of the dungeon walls.  
\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Four guards surrounded him, two holding his arms, and the other two behind him. Rudiger ran along the wall, watching Varian as he was dragged to a cell far down the hall from the petty thieves and thugs. His goggles, apron, and gloves were taken from him, and he was shoved unceremoniously into the cell. One of the guards followed him in and shackled one ankle to a bolt in the floor. This was all to similar to the queen’s situation earlier that day, and Varian smiled lightly as he remembered the look of shock and underlying fear in her eyes as she saw his father in the amber. That was gone now though, his father, his freedom. The guards left, his wrists still shackled together, and the dying sunset lighting the dim cell. Varian wished he could get closer to the window, but the chain left him a few feet shy of the cool, fresh air. At least he wasn’t alone, he had Rudiger. 

\---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Varian snapped out of his memory as the raccoon scratched his leg lightly, chattering to him.

“What is it buddy?” Varian asked, and Ruddiger just whined in response as he stuck his small nose through the cell bars. The routine sound of a guard was heard, growing closer, and Varian groaned. It can’t be evening already. A glance out the window answered his question as the orange light of sunset shone through. Varian just moved closer to the wall, the cuff around his ankle biting painfully into his skin as the chain pulled taut. 

“Dinner,” a guard announced, slipping a tray into the cell so that Varian could reach it. The boy, however, just ignored the guard and the tray of mold-infested food and warm water. As the guard hesitated, Varian looked over and made cold eye contact with the tall lanky man.

“Do you need something, or are you just here to agonize me and Rudiger?” Varian asked blankly, gesturing to the hissing raccoon near the guard. 

“No-uh, I- was uh, just supposed to collect results on if you had been eating…” The guard stammered in reply, concerned by the angry ball of gray fluff. 

“For who, it’s not like anyone actually cares. I’d rather starve than stay here, so make sure you add that to your report,” Varian responded, staring down the guard, feeling victorious when the man went to responded, but ended up walking away instead. 

With the hall empty once more, Rudiger came over with a piece of stale bread and offered it to Varian.

“You eat it, I don’t need it,” Varian rejected, as starving to death would be preferred to the public execution he was sure to get. A small spark of happiness broke through his layers of Rage and Sadness when Rudiger obliged and ate the small scrap. Truthfully, Varian didn’t know the last time he ate, but it had to have been well before he stole the sundrop flower. He was too busy trying to save his father to spend time on simple things like food and sleep. If only Varian had stayed away from the black rocks like he was told to! Then none of this would have happened... but it was too late to go back now. His father was trapped and so was Varian. Even now though, as his father was out of reach, Varian kept trying to think up a way to get free and return to his father. It seemed the lack of sleep had gotten to him though, as Varian’s eyes grew heavy and he slipped into the comfort of exhaustion once again.


	2. Arianna: Day three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to go ahead and post the first two chapters at the same time as they are both fairly short.
> 
> After this it will be about one chapter a day until I run out of the pre-written chapters.

Darkness, the terrifying depths of darkness. Pulling her in and drowning her in fear as she struggled in the metal grasp of Varian’s automaton. It slowly crushed her ribs, nothing could help her now. “Any moment now, your highness” Varian voice echoed through her mind. The deepest depths of fear and pain entrapping her even more than Varian had.  
\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Arianna awoke with a start, sitting up in bed and scanning the room quickly. Fredric was still sleeping peacefully beside her, and she sighed as the nightmare faded away in the growing sunlight. The queen slipped out of bed, quickly getting ready for the day. It was still early in the morning, and Arianna wasn’t ready to leave the safety of her bedroom, so she looked out one of the windows upon the waking town. Servants were starting their daily routines, and a group of guards were having morning practice outside the barracks. To think that it had only been three days since… Arianna shook the plaguing thoughts away and went back to trying to enjoy the morning. 

As Arianna finished her breakfast with Rapunzel and Fredric, she began to think through what she had to do for the day. Oversee a thief’s trial, Speak with the royal physician about getting some medicine to help her sleep, make some changes to the garden, get the report on Varian, have lunch with Rapunzel… why had she asked that guard to check up on Varian? She shouldn’t be thinking about the troubled child that had caused so many issues recently, yet… Arianna couldn’t help but wonder if the boy was alright. Rapunzel was also worried for him, though she had been his friend at one point, so it was understandable. Varian had been nothing but unkind toward Arianna, and had even tried to kill her, so what kept her thinking about his well being? 

“Arianna,” Fredric snapped the queen out of her thoughts, “We should get going to that trial”.

“Oh yes, of course dear,” Arianna replied, standing up and looking over to Rapunzel. Her daughter looked tired and stressed as she stood up and gave Arianna a quick hug.

“I have to go meet up with Eugene and Cass to look at those rocks! Have fun,” Rapunzel said, heading off through the gardens, though Arianna noticed how she didn’t have the usual bounce in her step.

Arianna and Fredric made their way to the court room, and the trial began shortly after their arrival. It was the usual trial, a petty thief had stolen some money, and would most likely serve a couple years before leaving prison and repeating the cycle. Luckily for her, Arianna was never too involved with trials, she just had to agree with the sentencing. The queen tuned out the droning of Nigel and began to think about more pressing matters. Varian had deeply affected all of Corona, and had put himself high on the list of dangerous criminals. How a fourteen year old child could manage to get himself into such a mess was beyond Arianna, and she wished she could ask him why he did all the things he did. However, she knew it would be a horrible idea to try and talk to the child, as even the thought of him brought painful memories of the jagged amber growing ever closer into her mind. As queen, and as a person, she was terrified of the child, and felt much safer with him restrained in the dungeons, but as a parent, Arianna felt worried and wished she could help Varian. Her motherly instinct to help the boy fought the fear and anger she felt as queen. Nightmares plagued her sleep, yet she questioned his health since he arrived. 

“As king, I sentence this man to one year in prison, and two months of community service after. Does the queen agree?” Fredric declared, and Arianna absently nodded her head and agreed. The thief was hauled off, and Fredric came over and grasped Arianna’s small hand, causing her to turn and look at her husband.

“Arianna, is everything alright dear?” Fredric questioned as Arianna stood and looked into his piercing blue eyes, seeing nothing but concern and love. He may bury his emotions under stubbornness and formality, but Arianna could see through his protection, could see the man that she married all those years ago.

“I’m fine dear, just… why am I worried for Varian?” She faltered, questioning herself aloud. Fredric held her tighter, and his gaze grew cold, Arianna shouldn’t have brought the boy up.

“That boy is a menace, and will get his just punishment when his trial date arises. Do not worry, he cannot hurt you again,” Fredric assured, but it only made Arianna feel worse.

“He is a child Fredric, how could we let this happen to a child?” Arianna wondered, feeling guilt arise in her stomach. If only she had checked on Old Corona, if only she had sent someone to check on the child after Rapunzel came to her for advice about the events during the blizzard. 

“Varian made his choices, we could not stop his from choosing a path of darkness, do not blame yourself for his mistakes,” Fredric stated, gently putting a hand on her shoulder, and flinching as she tensed up instinctively, “I’m sorry dear, I must head off to hear our subject’s demands. Please don’t think of that boy anymore, Arianna, just let things return to normal.” With that, Fredric left, and Arianna looked to her shoulder, where she could almost see the gloved hand holding her roughly. She shuddered, and the feeling vanished as quickly as it came, but she quickly made her way out into the guarded halls of the castle anyways. 

It was around midmorning when Arianna met with the guard assigned to feed and asses Varian. He was a taller guard, and though his build was smaller than most, he was plenty strong. The man was newer to the royal guard, and was not at the Battle of Old Corona due to being a trainee still. This was his first big task, and he had to do it right to be promoted. As he stood in front of the Queen, he worried about failing the assignment due to not actually watching the boy to see if he ate. It was his second conversation with Queen Arianna, his first being when she asked him to do the job. Why she had chosen him, he had no idea. Maybe it was due to the fact that he was from Old Corona, and had seen Varian before his turn to villany. It had been months since Varian had been seen though, as the villagers of Old Corona had fled from the rocks, and that was when he signed up to be a guard. 

“What is the information on Varian?” Arianna asked, looking at the man, her expression blank and her posture as regal as always. She was good at hiding her emotions from the years of being queen. Emotion was a dangerous thing if it arose at a bad time.

“He has not eaten since he arrived, your majesty, and it looks as if he hasn’t slept much either. The raccoon that is in the cell with him seems to be helping him stay sane, though Varian is aggressive toward any guard that tries to speak to him,” the guard stated, trying to give the utmost respect to the queen.

“Alright, thank you…” Arianna looked at the guard, having forgotten his name.

“Roger, your majesty,” he filled in, and she smiled briefly.

“Thank you Roger, you are dismissed to continue your duties,” Arianna announced, and he bowed before exiting the room, leaving a concerned Arianna with the two more experienced guards that now accompanied her almost everywhere.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry if I wrote Fredric poorly, he isn't a character that I ever liked or understood, but I felt he needed to be included if Arianna was. And don't worry, Roger shows up throughout the story, but never in a major position. (I don't care much for personal OC's having major roles).


	3. Arianna and Varian: Day Seven

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Before you start reading a few things I would like to point out:
> 
> 1\. The chapters in this story are sorted by Time, not Perspective, so there will be a few chapters (like this one) that include both Perspectives. I tried to make it clear when perspectives switched.
> 
> 2\. The next few chapters are a decent amount longer than the first few, so hopefully the story is getting better.
> 
> Have fun reading!

Varian was pacing as much as his restrictions would allow, willing his brain to come up with an escape plan. He ignored the pain that came if he turned to quickly, or when the light stung his eyes. If he sat down, he would surely pass out from exhaustion again. It had been a week now, and Varian had down nothing besides sleep and sulk, and he was done doing nothing. No one would free his father for him, so Varian had to find a way to get to him. Rudiger was hiding below the cot that rested along one wall, anxiously chattering at Varian. An untouched tray of food lay by the bars, though the water had been drunk, as Varian was feeling quite sick and the water slightly improved his state. His legs shook as he quickly paced, and his stomach churned with every step. Varian coughed and had to stop pacing until he caught his breath. He could see dots of color flash across his vision, and a dull roar filled his ears. All he needed was a way out, a way out and then everything would be fine. The window was too small for him to slip through, even if he could break the bars over it somehow, and he could find no loose bricks or sharp rocks to break the chain that connected him to the floor. The sun was slowly rising, the morning air crisp and cool. Varian turned, and a jolt in his stomach caused him to yelp and grab his abdomen. It quickly became a struggle for him to walk as each step felt like a knife digging into his stomach. A flash of bright white filled his sight, and the next thing he knew, Varian was on the floor with a burning feeling in his arm. As he looked to the arm, he saw a trail of blood on his wrist from where the rusted cuff dug into his skin. One arm was still under him, and it caused the metal to viscously dig into his raw and bleeding flesh. With a groan, Varian rolled onto his side, freeing his arm while causing another stab of pain to his stomach. The boy curled into a ball, grasping his stomach futility as something Rudiger rushed out of his spot under the cot, curling up by Varian’s chest, his deep black eyes looking into Varian’s icy blue ones. Another wave of pain hit Varian, and he whimpered as his edges of his vision began to grow fuzzy. He saw Rudiger move away, and heard an odd noise behind him. Rudiger had moved over to the bars of the cell, and was now screeching loudly enough for the entire hall of prisoners to hear. Incomprehensible shouts were heard, and there was a rhythmic beat on the floor; footsteps. 

“What is going on down here?” the Captain of the Guard shouted, drawn to the cell by the shreeching vermin. Two other guards followed close behind, and when they saw Varian, spasming with pain and curled into a tight ball, the Captain quickly unlocked the cell.

“We need to get him to a medic!” the Captain ordered, and Varian distantly felt something loosen around his ankle, and someone picked him up, the cold stone replaced with empty air. Varian had no strength left, and saw the panicked face of the same guard that normally brought him food before he was enveloped with a comforting darkness and the pain left him. Maybe he would finally get to see his mother in heaven, if that even existed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Arianna ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Arianna was in the gardens, watching over the changes being made when the captain ran up to her. She looked over to him in concern, as he rarely came to her with urgent news. Her two guards also looked confused, but stood at attention as the captain bowed his head in respect.

“Your majesty, I thought you would like to know that Varian collapsed in his cell a few moments ago. We took him to the medical wing, and one of the royal physicians should be caring for him as we speak,” the captain informed, and Arianna struggled to process the information. Varian just randomly collapsed? Was he ill, or did he manage to hurt himself? Would he be ok?

“Take me to him,” Arianna ordered, and the four people set off for the medical wing at a quick pace.

“Has the king been informed?” Arianna asked as they neared the doors to the room most prisoners were taken to if they fell ill. 

“Not yet, your majesty. I found it more important to warn you first as you wished to receive news on his health. Stan, go alert the king,” the Captain replied, and one of Arianna escorts nodded before heading off to find Fredric. As the small crew walked through the doors, they saw a mostly empty room, with a few nurses near one bed at the far end. Arianna walked ahead of the guards, and the nurses split when they noticed her arrival. This was the first time she had seen Varian since the battle of Old Corona, and what she saw forced a gasp to escape her throat.

His ribs could be seen through his thin shirt, and his shoulders jutted out from his pale skin. He had dark bags under his eyes, and he shivered and shuddered in his fitful sleep. One ankle was now shackled to one of the legs on the bed to keep him from escaping when he woke up, but his wrists had been unshackled as one wrist had been wrapped in bandages, the blood still seeping through. It pained Arianna to see that this had happened to a child, she should have checked on him. If she had… would it have changed anything? 

“Ah, your majesty, you should not be this close to the… child,” a physician said with slight disgust as he came into the room. He set a piece of paper, most likely a patient file, on the side table, and looked over to the Queen.

“What happened to him?” Arianna asked, ignoring the tone of the physician, and not moving away from Varian’s sleeping form.

“He collapsed from a mixture of exhaustion, dehydration, and malnourishment. He most likely hasn’t eaten in around three weeks,” the man stated, looking between the boy and the royal. 

“Will be get better?” Arianna questioned, trying to not let too much concern seep into her voice.

“Yes, your majesty. As long as he starts eating and getting proper amounts of sleep, then he should fully recover. Once he wakes up, I will give him some medicine to dull the pain, and give him some food, then he will return to his cell,” the physician replied, and Arianna looked to the child.

“And if he continues to refuse food?” she queried, and the physician looked at the child with some sympathy showing through his professional mask.

“Then I’m afraid he will pass from starvation, your majesty. There is nothing I can do if he will not try to get better,” the physician commented, and sighed quietly. Arianna was thinking quietly, watching the boy, when she heard nails scratching the hard floor. She looked down to see Varian’s raccoon looking at her from under the bed, and one of the nurses yelped when she saw it.

“There’s a rat under his bed!” the nurse exclaimed, inciting panic upon the other nurses in the room. Arianna hid a smile at the girls poor knowledge of animals before calming the situation.

“It is not a rat ladies, it is the raccoon that is often found near this child. It will cause no harm to you if you do not attack it,” Arianna reassured the frightened nurses, and Rudiger poked his head out and seemingly looked at the queen before climbing the bed frame and curling up on Varian’s trembling chest. At least the boy had some comfort, but she had to do something to get him to eat. She owed it to him, his parents, and herself. What kind of queen would she be if she let a child die without trying to help? 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Varian~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian cried out as his father was slowly encased in amber, trying in vain to get closer, but a pair of shackles around his ankles held his back. He watched, crying and pleading to get closer, as his father scribbled a note and looked to Varian.

“Read it son, and maybe then you will learn that I could never be proud of you. You caused this.” Quirin called out before the amber solidified around his form. Varian fell to the floor, sobbing, scratching against his chains, his eyes screwed shut. When he opened them, he saw that he was now standing over Rapunzel, who was crying, still stuck in the pink containment substance. 

“How could you! Varian, I-I trusted you! Y-You killed her,” Rapunzel choked out, and Varian turned to see the Queen, encased in amber next to his father. What? This wasn’t how things happened? The Queen had gotten free, Varian had lost… how did he end up here? Varian grabbed his head, closing his eyes and wishing things happened differently, and he opened them as he felt a warm breeze on his face. He was now outside his home in old Corona, the black rocks nowhere to be found. Rapunzel, Eugene, and Cassandra where there too, looking at Varian with smiles. 

“I can’t believe we found a way to destroy those rocks! Good job Varian, your a hero now!” Rapunzel exclaimed with a smile.

“Nice going kid, you may get to be the royal alchemist after what you managed to do!” Eugene grinned, patting Varian on the back. How did he destroy the black rocks? When?

“That was amazing, we couldn’t have done it without you,” Cass complimented, hugging Varian briefly, which made his cheeks hot. Why. he didn’t like Cass… he tried to kill her didn’t he? Maybe that was just a dream or something?

Varian felt a familiar hand on his shoulder, and turned to see his dad, who said, “I’m so proud of you Varian”. Quirin pulled him into a tight hug, and Varian could’ve stayed there for an eternity, but it faded all to quick as Varian looked and saw he was back in his lab, his father looking at him. He tried to call out to his dad, or move over to him, but he was stuck in something yellow… the amber. That must be why Quirin was crying, Varian had been encased in the amber… how? This couldn’t be happening, he was just outside with all his friends, being called a hero, what happened? Varian tried to struggle, but to no avail, he couldn’t even cry. He was trapped, truly trapped by his own mistakes.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian shuddered and yelped, his eyes flashing open. Something was holding him down, trapping him to a soft surface. He lashed out, and felt his arm connect with something soft yet hard, and the pressure on one side was released. Varian had to get to his father, make sure he was ok! As he struggled and kicked, he realized that it was people trying to hold him down, and he must be somewhere in the castle still. What little strength Varian had was put into the struggle, and finally, two guards stepped in and held down his shoulders and arms. 

“Let me go! I need to get to my dad!” Varian cried out, still attempting to struggle against the strong grasp of the guards. The dreams hadn’t quite faded, and he yelled himself hoarse, and his energy left him. His struggle left him weak and confused, but he felt his lungs and stomach crying out in pain, and a quick flash of a memory set him back into reality. His father was gone, he passed out… he wasn’t dead like he hoped. Why? Why couldn’t fate look down on him and give him pity for once? Once he grew still, the guards grabbed his arms and chained them to the side of the bed so that he could only move them slightly. The bandages on his left wrist kept the cuff from digging into his already bleeding flesh, so he was fairly safely contained. Varian sat up a bit, scooting back as much as the chains on his wrists and ankle would allow, so that he could look around. A few nurses looked at him in fear, one cradling her arm gently. There was also a doctor, who looked disgusted and annoyed, the two guards, neither of them the one that brought him food. One of the actually looked like… the Captain. They looked tired and concerned, but also unsurprised by his outburst. Behind the guards stood… Oh no, she saw him have a panic attack? This fucking sucked… the Queen of Corona herself, saw the once powerful Varian, freak out and cry for his dad. If only death had taken him away from this torture. 

“What are you doing here?” Varian questioned, looking to the Queen with disgust.

“Address the Queen with respec-” The Captain cut in only to stop when Arianna put her hand on his arm.

“I was alerted to the fact that you are ill, and came to make sure you were alright,” Arianna replied in a simple, blank tone, he posture straight and regal as she looked at Varian. Her eyes gave away nothing, which anger Varian to no end. How could she not be afraid? Stupid royals, knowing how to hide all thier emotions and problems. 

“Why would you care? your highness,” Varian questioned with mocking respect, “I tried to kill you, wished death upon you, and you don’t wish the same for me?”.

“Would you please leave us for a moment,” Arianna said, addressing the nurses and doctors, who quickly left through a small side door. 

“I would never wish death upon a child, even a criminal one,” Arianna continued, answering Varian’s question with what was probably the most frustrating answer she could have said. 

“I’m not a child, I tried to kill and destroy Corona, can a child do that? No! Now, can I go back to rotting in that dank cell of mine?” Varian fumed, glaring daggers at the queen, trying to invoke some sort of emotion in her black expression. 

“First, you must eat, and continue to eat when given food. I will not let a child die,” Arianna stated, and the Captain set a tray of food on the bed next to Varian, and unlocked his good hand so that he could eat.

“I’d rather die than be given your pity. You’re so nice and perfect aren’t you, your highness? Acting like you care for everyone,” Varian snapped, eliciting a small frown from the Queen. Finally, some sort of emotion.

“I know you may be upset that Rapunzel could not help you during the storm Varian, but understand that-” Arianna was interrupted by Varian.

“I WILL NOT UNDERSTAND! Rapunzel may not have been able to help me during the blizzard, but no one even LOOKED for me afterwards. I was Alone for months, waiting for someone to help me free my father! But no one! No one came to help me! So no, I will not Understand your side. It’s only more lies to change me!” Varian exploded, his rage boiling inside him. Arianna took a step back, and the Captain put his hand on the hilt of his sword. Something touched his leg, and he went to swat it away before realizing what it was. Rudiger had appeared from nowhere, and was looking at Varian, trying to calm him. After a tense moment, Varian gently touched Rudiger, and the raccoon came closer and curled up on his thighs. He looked away from the royal, trying to get his emotions under control again. 

“Varian-” Arianna began

“Go away!” Varian cut in, only to be surprised by the Queen.

“Listen to me,” Arianna demanded, her tone clear and cold, loud enough to be easily heard, but not a shout. Varian quickly looked over to her, confused, but also kind of… impressed. He didn’t think she could actually demand silence. Wow.

“I know you were hurt, and someone should have come to check on you, and… I’m sorry that Corona abandoned you when you needed it. Despite that, you could have come to us after the storm, and we would have helped,” Arianna defended, and Varian let out a dry laugh accidently.

“Oh, I did try and come for help. I couldn’t make it to the palace though. As soon as I got into town I was attacked. It’s funny, people don’t like those that try and attack royalty,” Varian responded, emphasising ‘attack’, seeing as he didn’t attack Rapunzel until the Battle of Old Corona. With one hand, he moved his long forelock to show a small scar he got from one of the villagers throwing rocks at him. It was childish of them, throwing rocks. It would have been more beneficial to throw daggers, or just beat him up with their fists, but no, they chose to play childish games to chase him away. It seemed like Arianna had never heard this part of the story, as she looked confused and concerned while she looked over the scar. 

“We never got reports of you coming to Corona after the blizzard, so why should we believe you?” The captain shot, and Varian smiled.

“That’s just it, you have no reason to believe me. You never will. Every Time you have to choose my story or Corona’s, you’ll always cast mine aside. Now, Your Highness, are we done?” Varian responded, quickly growing bored of the conversation.

“We can be done with the conversation, but you must eat before you can leave the medical ward,” Arianna stated, bringing the cleary not ending conversation back to the start. 

“Well, I guess I’m going to be here forever,” Varian simply rejected, petting Rudiger quietly.

“Ok, we will return your raccoon to your cell to wait,” Arianna coolly replied, and the guards moved in to take Rudiger out of his lap. That was low for royalty, using his pet as leverage. I guess it was the same thing Varian used Arianna for, so it was probably partial revenge on her part. 

“Fine, I’ll eat, leave Rudiger here,” Varian gave in, looking at the bread on the tray. He waited patiently for the Queen to leave, and when she didn’t, he huffed and took a bite of the bread. The guards moved away from Rudiger, and Varian caught the small smile on Queen Arianna’s face. He tore off a piece of bread, and gave it to Rudiger, who happily ate alongside Varian. He was halfway through the bread when the doors to the medical ward opened, and the King himself walked in. 

“Hello dear,” Arianna greeted, turning to look at the king briefly before looking back at Varian, who had set the bread down and was petting Rudiger roughly in an attempt to remain calm.

“Arianna, you should not be in here with… him,” the king replied, looking at Varian with what seemed like a mix of anger, concern, and… something else. Fear? Sympathy? Pity? Varian couldn’t tell, and honestly didn’t care what the sorry excuse of a king thought of him. 

“Nice to see you too. How’s the Princess, still mad at you for lying to her?” Varian jabbed, inwardly smiling as the king grew angrier at the comment.

“This boy needs to be taken back to the dungeons, there is clearly nothing wrong with him besides his attitude,” Fredric demanded, and the guards looked to Arianna before moving to undo the cuffs attaching him to the bed.

“Thank’s, I was getting bored of the conversation anyway,” Varian smoothly replied before addressing Queen Arianna, “Nice leverage you used there, too bad he interrupted. See ya ‘round, your highness“. Arianna frowned slightly, but watched in silence as Varian walked out with the guards, causing no issues just to spite them. The walk back to his cell was spent in silence, the only noise being the sound of his shackles clanking together and the footsteps of the guards. Back to the dim light and solitude of his cell. Back to planning his escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also, quick note to those of you that are following the story daily: My publishing times will always be later in the evenings on Weekdays, and Weekends, who knows. 
> 
> I also have a question for you guys: Am I rushing the story? I have been told that I push the climax to fast, but I don't enjoy writing and adding filler chapters that don't contribute to the plot... what do you guys think? Should I slow it down and let the story take it's time, or keep it at the pace it's going? (It may be a bit early to ask this question, but IDK)


	4. Arianna: Day Ten

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next chapter! This chapter is somewhat odd, not sure if I portrayed the characters very well but Oh Well.

Fredric had banned her from speaking with Varian.

Why? She had no idea. Despite Fredric being her husband, some of the things he did were beyond Arianna. His only explanation was, “I don’t want him hurting you again”. She guessed it was another one of his poor ideas that came from a good place, but… banning her from seeing a child that had no way to harm her? There had to be something more to his reasoning. Arianna still got reports on Varian’s health, and luckily he did eat a small portion of his food everyday now. His wrist however, was not as good. It had gotten infected when Varian took off his bandages to early. Hopefully it would be a quick infection, and would be gone by the end of the week. As a safety measure (and to hopefully promote good behavior in the child) Varian was now constantly under surveillance to make sure he ate and didn’t take off his bandages again. Arianna knew this would annoy him greatly, but what difference did it make, she couldn’t see him anyways. Fredric had never used his higher power over her, they had agreed that they were equals on the day they married. Yet now... she didn’t want to think poorly of her husband, but sometimes even she got frustrated. She could deal with incompetent staff and anger-blinded citizens, even Willow (most of the time) but when she was forced to not care for a child, that went beyond her thoughts. That went against her instincts as a mother, not that she wanted to be a mother for Varian, after all, the boy did try to kill her and her family, but no child will turn out alright if they don’t have someone to help them. They had also promised Rapunzel that they would help him, and Arianna personally agreed with her daughter that the boy needed-

“Your Majesty,” The voice of Nigel snapped her into reality, “It’s time for your and his Majesty’s civil court”. Arianna looked over to the advisor, looked over to the window once more, then headed over to Nigel, who was waiting respectfully in the doorway.

“Of course. Thank you Nigel,” Arianna said with a small smile as the two walked down the hall to the throne room. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Civil Court was a disaster. Arianna and Fredric disagreed on many things throughout the course of the evening, so they only got through a few requests. The citizens were probably concerned, as Arianna and Fredric rarely fought. After the court was dinner, but Arianna excused herself early, and went to sit on her bedroom balcony. It was one of her favorite spots to think, as it was secluded, while still offering a beautiful view of the town. People bustled about, buying items last minute as the markets closed, crowding around restaurants for dinner, and children could be seen running around the streets. It was so peacefully ignorant to the issues happening behind castle walls. Varian seemed to be the most pressing issues, along with the black rocks growing ever closer, and Rapunzel’s tendency to be gone for long hours during the day with Eugene and Cassandra. Arianna would question Rapunzel, but she knew Rapunzel would be safe with Cassandra… and Eugene… to take care of her. Maybe Arianna needed a day off from Castle duties, just a day to enjoy. She hadn’t taken time off since well before Varian became an issue, maybe it would all be better after she had a day to de-stress. Yes, she would take tomorrow off, and go out to collect her thoughts. Though… she would need to take at least one guard with her if she left the walls of the castle, just for safety's sake. Hopefully there would be some guards off duty tomorrow, as she didn’t want to pull anyone away from their duties. 

“Arianna, dear, please talk to me,” Fredric said suddenly, putting his hand on Arianna shoulder. She hadn’t noticed his presence on the balcony until he spoke, which was odd since Fredric wasn’t always the best at being quiet. 

“About what?” Arianna asked, still looking out over the island.

“Why are you upset? I cannot let you remain angry at me, as I let Rapunzel,” Fredric replied with a sigh, moving to sit next to Arianna on the bench. 

“Fredric, I just… I don’t understand the choice you made today. Varian has done nothing to harm me since that day,” Arianna explained, now turning to look at Fredric.

“Arianna, Varian almost took you away from me forever that day. I could not bear to lose you, as we had lost Rapunzel. The boy that you are taking pity on tried to destroy all of us. He gave no mercy to us, I will not give any to him,” Fredric defended, once again growing tense and becoming visibly upset. 

“I know that what he did was wrong, and he will serve his time, but you have to realize that underneath the hatred and rage he has, Varian is a child. He is Quirin’s son, you seem to forget that sometimes. Don’t you remember all those years ago, when we first heard they were going to have a child? It was the first time I felt pure joy since Rapunzel had been taken from us. Are you going to forget all of those memories because , in his desperation to save his father, he made the wrong choices?” Arianna questioned, and Fredric was silent as he tried to think of an answer. 

“Quirin… was a great advisor, and I was so happy that he was going to have a family, but he also left the castle to live off in Old Corona. We ar-were still great friends, but I had heard many stories of Varian’s idea’s damaging the village. Quirin had asked me what to do, and… I had no answer. Now, Quirin is dead because of his son’s actions, and his mother died in the same practice as Varian. That boy should have turned away from alchemy after his mother perished in the accident, but he continued, and brought death upon his father. The same thing nearly happened to you, and I had to sit idly by everytime. So yes, Varian had his chances to make the right choice, and everytime he did not. He is not the innocent baby we knew back then, and we are not the same people Arianna,” Fredric explained, much to Arianna’s disappointment. His blue eyes looked like storm clouds in the dying sunlight, and honestly, it frightened Arianna to see her husband this way. She could now see how Fredric managed to push Rapunzel away, but unlike her daughter, Arianna was not content to just let the anger boil. 

“Fredric, Varian can do nothing against me anymore! He has no alchemy, no weapons, no upper hand in this situation! I told Quirin after his wife passed that if anything bad happened, I would help Varian through it. Are you going to keep me from that?” Arianna snapped loudly, her quiet demeanor being set aside in her anger. It clearly surprised Fredric, and he moved away from her slightly. 

“Arianna, enough of this! You are not going to see that boy!” Fredric swore, then got up to move into the bedroom.

As he reached the door, Arianna softly called out to him and asked, “When did we stop being equals Fredric?” He stopped dead in his tracks, and Arianna waited for his response patiently. 

He looked at Arianna and blankly stated, “When you became too kind to see the danger you put yourself in”.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for writing Frederic so poorly, I just cannot write him in a good way. This chapter was also a written during a twelve hour writing grind when I was sick, so Ima blame the issues in it on that.


	5. Arianna and Varian: Day Eleven (PART ONE)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I said that the chapters are split by time, but a lot happens on this "Day" so I decided to split it in two so that the chapter isn't four times as long as the other ones. So, Part two of this chapter will be out tomorrow, and I will put it up earlier in the day so that you don't have to wait long. 
> 
> Also, I want to put a warning in here: The suicide/depression tag comes into play a lot. So if you are not comfortable with suicidal thoughts, depression, and harm, please skip over the Varian section (2nd half of the chapter) <3

Arianna ended up in the library after her conversation with Fredric, and had apparently dozed off early in the morning. Fredric was most likely already up and doing his duties, so Arianna slipped into their bedroom to change into a lighter dress and cloak, more suited to being outside. She also slipped off her normal necklace, one that Fredric gave her a few months before Rapunzel was born, and replaced it with a tighter pearl necklace. Ready for her day off, Arianna was about to go to the barracks and ask for an extra guard, when she headed off course toward a secluded outcropping behind the castle. It overlooked the ocean, the crashing waves a calming rhythm as she looked out upon the sparkling blue depths. Maybe it was time Arianna had a little adventure on her own, like when she was younger. Willow and Arianna liked to go to a small meadow with a pond out by Corona’s wall. As long as she informed someone as to where she was going, it would be fine. Guards made her obvious to the public, so it seemed impossible to escape the pressure of being Queen. Only for a few hours, there and back. Arianna knew the perfect person to understand, and it just so happened that they weren't happy with Fredric either.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Oh my gosh! Can I come?” Rapunzel asked after Arianna told her about her planned outing. Maybe a mother daughter day would be alright.

“Of course Rapunzel, make sure Eugene and Cassandra know before we leave though, so that they don’t get worried,” Arianna replied, still working to make sure someone knew where they would be if trouble arose. 

“Ok! I’m going to go tell them right now! I’ll meet you in the gardens!” Rapunzel exclaimed as she bounded out of the room in search of her friends. Arianna was glad that Rapunzel was feeling better, maybe this trip would be beneficial for both of them. Though, she hadn’t told Rapunzel why she was leaving without any protection… or why she needed the day off. Arianna walked briskly through the halls, so as not to get questioned about her unusual attire. 

Rapunzel made it to the garden shortly after Arianna, cloak and satchel with her. The two girls silently headed out through the secret tunnels Rapunzel informed her of. How her daughter new of these tunnels in the first place was a mystery to Arianna, but if it meant getting away from castle life for a bit. Willow and her had done some crazy things where they were kids, and the idea of ‘sneaking’ away from the castle made her feel young and free again. It was only once they made it through the tunnels and into the town did they pull their cloaks up, concealing their identities. This was easier than Arianna thought it would be, and made her wonder how many times Rapunzel had snuck out of the castle. 

Once they crossed the bridge onto the mainland, Arianna took the lead and headed for the meadow. It wasn’t terribly far, but wasn’t necessarily close either. So, naturally, Rapunzel decided to strike up conversation.

“Why did you not want the guards to come with you mom?” Rapunzel questioned, causing Arianna to ponder for a moment as they walked.

“Well, it’s not much of an adventure if it’s obvious that you’re someone important,” Arianna replied, answering with a half-truth. 

“You never seem to do much adventuring. The last time I remember you not being around the guards is when Aunt Willow came to visit,” Rapunzel said with a laugh as she remembered Arianna’s crazy birthday. 

“Yes, that was quite the interesting adventure,” Arianna chuckled, “But most of the time I don’t have time to take days off”. 

“So why do you have time today? I wouldn’t think you would want to do this so soon after…” Rapunzel faltered, and the two stopped walking briefly.

“Rapunzel, I took time off so that I could get away from those memories. Personally, I have forgiven Varian, but what happened is still hard for me to deal with. I’m sure it’s hard for you too,” Arianna stated, putting her hand on her daughter’s shoulder.

“Why did you forgive him Mom? He was the worst to you out of all of us,” Rapunzel asked, her eyes starting to water. Arianna debated between comforting her daughter or answering her question, then decided on the latter, hoping it would do the prior. 

“Yes, what Varian did was bad, but he is a child, just one that turned the wrong direction. I think that Varian can get better, but not it we refuse to put the past behind us,” Arianna explained, hugging Rapunzel before they finished the walk to the meadow. It was sunny and bright, pastel flowers blowing in the breeze. Rapunzel gasped in joy at the sight, and quickly picked a few flowers.

“This place is beautiful! How did you never tell me about this place?” Rapunzel exclaimed, the previous conversation briefly forgotten. 

“I haven’t been here since well before you were born. I only recently remembered,” Arianna replied, sitting with Rapunzel in the grass. Arianna wove a few on the pastel flowers into her daughter's hair, knowing that Rapunzel was going to do it herself sooner or later. It felt like a moment that should have happened when Rapunzel was a child, a moment that she had lost long ago. 

“Well, I’m glad that I get to see it with you! This has been really fun,” Rapunzel smiled, looking over to Arianna.

“It has. I never thought I would come back here,” Arianna sighed, looking over the field of flowers.

“Why did you want to come here specifically?” Rapunzel asked, gesturing to the area around them.

“I just wanted to see one of the places I loved to go when I was around your age,” Arianna answered, having no better reply.

“Oh, did you and Aunt Willow come here before you met dad?” Rapunzel questioned.

“Yes, we found this place when I was around ten. It had been our little place to get away from our problems,” she responded, and Rapunzel thought quickly before asking another question.

“Is they why you took today off? To get away from some problems?” Rapunzel queried, and Arianna sighed before looking out over the meadow, silently confirming Rapunzel’s suspicions. 

“What’s going on Mom? You can tell me,” Rapunzel reassured, resting her head on Arianna’s shoulder. Arianna thought the idea of her daughter comforting her was quite backwards, as it was normally Arianna that calmed Rapunzel. 

“It’s nothing,” She glanced over and saw the hurt look on Rapunzel’s face before sighing and continuing, “Your Father banned me from speaking or seeing Varian until his trial.” 

“I didn’t think dad could give you orders. Aren’t the King and Queen in equal power?” Rapunzel puzzled, probably thinking of how they always made decisions together.

“Sometimes. Your Father and I agreed that we would have equal power, but technically, your father has the highest power due to being king, and also he was the blood-prince of Corona, and I married into my position,” Arianna explained, and Rapunzel moved away in concern.

“So Eugene will have more power than me once we take over?” She inquired, looking slightly disturbed at the prospect.

“No, as he was not born into royalty. Eugene also has no nobility and was once a wanted thief. I don’t think the citizens of Corona would be very happy with him having the highest power,” Arianna commented.

“That’s good, I might love Eugene, but I don’t always trust him to make the best choices. Wait, what did you say Dad banned you from?” Rapunzel questioned, realizing the important part of Arianna’s statement.

“I... am not allowed to speak to or see Varian until his trial date. It seems that your father doesn’t trust him and refuses to see that Varian is a child that made the worst choices he could have due to the fact that there was no one there to help him,” Arianna stated, and Rapunzel looked quite... annoyed? Angry? 

“He can’t do that! You should be able to talk to whoever you want to! How are we going to help Varian if no one will talk to him. Dad doesn’t want me to talk to him or you? Clearly, he won’t talk to Varian himself. This isn’t right! We need to-” Rapunzel ranted before stopping when Arianna touched her shoulder.

“I know that it isn’t right, but there isn’t much we can do. He won’t listen to reason Rapunzel. Now, we should get back before someone causes a panic,” Arianna stated, standing up and watching Rapunzel slip a few flowers into her satchel, and one into Arianna’s hair. 

“Things will turn out right mom, I'm sure of it,” Rapunzel assured with a smile, and the two girls headed back toward the island.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Varian~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Varian was once again bored out of his mind, but that was nothing new. Arianna didn’t bother him since he was taken out of the medical ward, though she had assigned him a stupid guard after he tried and succeeded to infect the cut on his wrist. Too bad it seemed to be getting better, he was really hoping that it would just infect his bloodstream and poison him. Maybe it was fate being cruel, or fate was forcing him to find a way out and free his father before he was allowed to die. Fucking Fate. Varian had tried to take the bandages off again, when the guard had his back turned and was talking with one of the patrolman, but that just resulted in Varian getting thrown to the ground and his arms had been attached to his bed for a few hours so that he couldn’t bring them together. It was so annoying how they acted like they cared now that he couldn’t do anything to help his father. Probably some publicity thing, Royals are nice to all children! Even ones that try and commit Regicide! Yay for happiness! Varian wanted no part in their games, he was happy to find a way out on his own and find some way to free his father. If only he knew how to get out of this goddamn cell! There was nothing for him to work with. Everything had been taken, down to the loose pebbles on the floor. Those had been taken out after Varian tried to cut himself with the sharpest ones, another failed attempt to do anything with his life, even if it was to end it. He really was useless, he couldn’t even managed to get rid of himself. If only he had been the one to get encased in the amber, then at least his father would have still been around. Dad would have found a way to save him by now, unlike himself, who was sitting wasting away in a cell. The best thing would’ve been if Varian had never been born in the first place, then Mom would be alive too. He always ruined things, taking away the precious things from everyone he knew, himself included. Varian hadn’t noticed the tears beginning to fall until Rudiger touch his cheek and wiped a few tears away.

“You’re right Ruddy, crying and moping isn’t going to do anything,” Varian sniffed, wiping his sleeve over his eyes. It was a good thing he stopped crying, as footsteps were heard coming in his direction. It was past midday but before evening, so it wasn’t someone delivering food or a guard coming to switch posts. The guard that was supposed to be watching him snapped to attention, which confused Varian even more. It had to be someone important, but who? His questions were soon answered as the large, sturdy figure of the King came into view, crown glinting in the sunlight pouring through the small cell window. Ugh, he wanted nothing to do with the man that ignored him and his father, that left him to rot in jail while his father was either dead or suspended in limbo. Varian would rather be dead then let the King gloat or whatever he was here to do. If only his trial and inevitable execution were sooner. Death was starting to seem like the best option of them all. 

“Where is she Varian?” he boomed, and Varian just looked over, a bored expression on his face.

“How would I know where anyone is, I’m always here, thanks to you,” Varian replied icily. 

“Do not play games with me boy, how did you manage to take Arianna again?” the king demanded, confusing Varian. The guard looked slightly bored, but there was also something else there, hope. Hope for what? 

“Huh?” was Varian’s answer.

“Queen Arianna is missing, and I know you had something to do with it!” the king yelled, clearly not thinking with his two brain cells. Varian was scheming of a way to make his prison stay quicker, his earlier thoughts corrupting his mind. All he had to do was drive the already raging king over the edge, and who knew what he would do. Would it work though? Only one way to find out. Maybe his dad would be proud that he managed to make the king so angry that was murdered. That is, if he ever saw his dad again, living or not. 

“Oh, did your wife finally run away? I’m not surprised after how you spoke to her in the medical ward,” Varian smirked, watching the king grow angrier by the second. Finally, the king nodded to someone on the side, and two guards came into his cell. They grabbed his shoulders and moved him in front of the king, holding him in place tightly.

“Is this supposed to intimidate me?” Varian scoffed, still unfazed by the king’s anger. It was so amazing to see that he could actually upset a royal. Maybe he could just anger the king into skipping the trial and executing him right now. That would be an interesting conversation between the king, his wife, and Rapunzel. Varian could actually get revenge and death at the same time. Force the royal family apart, then go and watch the chaos as a spirit. 

“Where. Is. The Queen?” The king growled, looking down at Varian.

“I don’t know. Have you looked, I don’t know. Anywhere?” Varian quipped, and received a sharp slap from one of the guards. It stung, but was also a victory for Varian. The first step to getting himself killed. Hopefully he would get to see mom soon. 

“Tell His Majesty the truth,” a guard said, squeezing Varian’s arm. It was fairly clear that the guards saw the flaw in the king’s logic, but they probably just wanted an excuse to beat up the person that almost destroyed Corona. Most guards seemed to enjoy getting to harm the prisoners, secretly or with orders. 

“I have been down here the whole time, how would I know where she is. Isn’t that your job?” Varian jabbed, now insulting the guards and the king. This time the result was a punch to the stomach, causing Varian to stumble in the guard’s grasp. King Fredric just watched on in cold anger. It was like a cruel experiment, and Varian wanted to explore the outcomes, until the final one came around, death. It was interesting to see the real royal behind the mask of kindness and regality. 

“Tell us” 

“I already did,” 

Punched in the face. Bloody nose. Simple start.

“Where is her majesty”

“I don’t know, maybe you should go find her”

Twisted his good wrist sharply. Probably dislocated. Still not the worst.

“Answer”

“No thanks”

Thrown to the ground. Headache from hitting the stone. Decent effect.

“How about now”

“No… idea” 

Kicked in the side. Sharp pains. They could do better.

“Let’s try again”

“Nah”

Picked up and slammed against the wall. Head probably bleeding by now. The test was finally interesting.

“One more time”

“Ok”

“Where is she?”

“Not- h-here”

Not sure what happened, everything hurts. Finally, they were getting closer to the outcome Varian was hoping for.

“Tell us”

“u-unngh..”

“What is going on here?” a feminine voice demanded to know. The experiment was cut short as Arianna and Rapunzel came into view. Too bad, he was so close. 

“Hey look. I- I found ‘er” Varian croaked with a dry laugh as he was dropped by the guards and fell to the floor. His mouth tasted like blood for some reason, and he was seeing stars. At least they all had a bit of fun before the mediators arrived.

“Arianna? But. He sent something after you! How?” Fredric stammered.

“Fredric, think about it. How could he sent anything after me? He is in jail for goodness sake! Maybe if you stopped jumping to conclusions, we wouldn’t be in situations like this,” Arianna snapped, and Varian smiled as he watched the royal family crumble. Perfect. 

“Well, where were you then?” King Fredric questioned, looking Queen Arianna in the eyes. The Queen paused for a moment, then went to answer. Varian wondered if they would forgot about him, and if he could slip out while they fought to avoid the inevitable trip to the medical wing.

“Rapunzel and I went out for a short while. Both Eugene and Cassandra had been informed of our whereabouts. Maybe if you had asked around the castle before you went off to interrogate children, you would have known. Really Fredric, this has gone to far!” Arianna fumed, walking past him and the guards into the cell. Varian was surprised by the fact that the Queen had actually lost her temper, though she seemingly regained her composure rather quickly. The king on the other hand, had his hands curled into fists, and fire in his eyes. 

“Are you alright Varian?” the queen asked, looking down at him as he grinned, feeling blood run down his lip. 

“N-Never better, your highness” he laughed, Falling back as he tried to prop himself up on his wrist that he forgot was injured. 

“Get this child to a medic immediately,” Arianna said to one of the guards before turning to Rapunzel and the king, “We need to have a family chat”. 

As the guards helped him up, Varian couldn’t help but wonder if the king would have actually killed him. It sure seemed like he wanted to murder someone right now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not too sure what I was thinking when I wrote this, but I guess I was having a bad day (I wrote this a while ago so I don't really remember). My writing is heavily based off my moods, so if it seems a bit out of whack, that is decent reasoning why.


	6. Arianna and Varian: Day eleven (PART TWO)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The second part! I said I would do an early upload, so here it is. This part is shorter, but quite different from the first part. 
> 
> Have fun reading!

After Varian had been taken to receive medical attention from the beating, the Royals had gone to an empty sitting room to speak. Rapunzel uncomfortably sat in a chair, while Fredric moved to stand behind a couch. Arianna was looking into the blazing fireplace, all to similar to Fredric’s eyes right now.

“You are supposed to take guards when you leave, and TELL someone before you go,” Fredric began, getting straight to the point.

“People knew where we were going, just not you,” Arianna swiftly replied, still looking into the fire.

“I should know when you decide to run off on your own! I’m your husband and the king!” Frederic defended.

“That doesn’t mean I have to tell you everything dear. Rapunzel and I wanted some quiet time away from castle life. You would’ve insisted on half the guard coming, Fredric,” she retorted, looking over to Rapunzel, who looked like she wanted to be anywhere besides here. Arianna then turned her gaze to Fredric, who was standing behind the couch, his knuckles white from gripping the back of it. She had held back so much for so long, and it was all coming out now.

“Arianna, it’s not safe to leave without guards! Think of what happened the last time you were alone! Think of what Varian did,” Fredric protested, forcing Arianna’s mind back to the dim light of the throne room, and the foggy darkness outside. Someone speaking to her, her realization that there were no guards around, either to speak to her or to help her… 

“Believe me, I know what happened last time, and I still hate to be alone, but I wasn’t alone today. We were a short way away from town, and Rapunzel knows how to take care of herself,” Arianna stated, realizing that she had hid her lingering fear that something would come for them. That was why she didn’t want to be gone for long. 

“Dad, listen. You’ve been giving a lot of rules lately, to me, and now Mom. You can’t change Us, who we are is defined by our choices, not yours,” Rapunzel interrupted, causing Fredric to turn and look to her. She was standing, looking at her father with the same intensity he had. 

“I give rules and boundaries to keep you safe, not change you. Why would I want you two to not be yourselves?” Fredric questioned, and Arianna had the answer this time.

“Because we are willing to forgive,” Arianna answered, causing Fredric to pause, some of the rage fading at he thought.

“You both forgive too quickly, I want to help him and his father, but what he did was a crime, and should not be set aside by the fact that he is a child,” Fredric explained, “Varian nearly froze you and then tried to kill you Arianna. How can you forgive that?”.

“I haven’t. Varian did horrid things, and yes, they were most definitely wrong. Despite this, Varian did them out of love for his father. He had tried to ask for help, but we turned him away, and so did the village. No one looked for him, we forgot about his problems. Varian probably thought that he had to do something drastic, or nothing would change. This is why I am willing to give him a second chance despite his… mistakes,” Arianna informed, watching Fredric go from angry, to confused, to sad, and finally, calm. They were finally working things out. 

“Arianna… If you really believe that he can reform and be a child again, then…” Fredric paused, taking a deep breath, “You can speak with him when you wish, but he must remain contained and you are to not go close to him. At least one guard must be present at all times, and they will report the meetings back to me. Alright?”

“If those are the requirements, then I will make them work, but Fredric… next time, please just listen to my-” Arianna paused and moved over to Rapunzel, “Our side before you make any big decisions”. Rapunzel smiled at her, and they looked over to Fredric. They were finally coming together as a family, fate really was smiling down upon them in this moment.

“I will try. I just do not want to see you hurt again,” Fredric replied with a sigh, moving toward her and Rapunzel. 

“I love you guys,” Rapunzel whispered as the family hugged quickly, a tense hug, then she slipped out and left, probably off to find her boyfriend. Fredric was clearly unhappy with them pointing out the issues they saw, but it was high time for it. Arianna tended to not go against her husband, as she hated to make him more stressed than he was, but he could not beat children, or anyone, wrongly. Arianna wasn’t going to point it out, but Fredric was making poor decisions just like Varian had, just on a smaller scale. He saw that he needed to change his ways, luckily, and now that the conversation was over, she had someone to visit in the medical wing once again. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Varian~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Damn it.

When the guards had taken Varian to the medical wing, they had made the mistake of not holding him very well, so he managed to slip out of their grip and ran in a random direction looking for anything that he could use to worsen his condition. Of course, the guards wouldn’t know his reasoning for doing this, they would believe that was trying to leave the castle. At this moment, Varian was craving death; he would not go back to the medical wing and get better after all he tried. That was his chance to deal with himself for the royals. Something always kept him from dying, everytime, though! Varian was done with life, he had messed up too many times. This was another one of those messups apparently, as Varian didn’t get very far before he stumbled and fell from a shock of pain in his side. With the combination of two injured wrists and the shackles, Varian struggled to get up, giving the guards plenty of time to catch up and grab him again. They were not taking any chances this time, holding him firmly on each shoulder, and one of them also held the chain that connected his wrists. He was an idiot, a fucking idiot. Everything he tried ended up making things worse somehow, keeping him alive, yet barely living a life. When did it all start going wrong? Was it when the black rocks appeared? When his mother died? Or was it, plain and simple, when he was born? Was his entire life a mistake? Probably. Well, he guessed life won this round, as they had made it to the medical wing. A few nurses were hanging around on beds or cleaning medical supplies, and they all turned their heads when the doors opened. Many of them looked shocked and concerned with his appearance, either from how he looked or from the fact that he was back again after only a few days. The others in the room looked bored like this was a normal occurrence, which it probably was. Nevertheless, a few nurses instructed for him to be moved to one of the “Multi day” rooms, which was literally a room with a bed and nothing else. No windows to the outside, nothing that he could use against himself. There was a window from the hall into the room, most likely for “Safety Reasons” or some other dumb shit. The guards took off his shackles, but held his upper arms as if they expected him to attack the nurses. As if he could in this state. A doctor came in, not the same one as before, and immediately began to treat his head injury. Apparently it had been bleeding pretty badly, as cloth after bloody cloth was used to clean his head. They then took a long length of cloth and wrapped it tightly around his head, tying it tightly in the back. The next thing they took care of was his wrist, which he was warned would be painful. The doctor and two nurses held his wrist, and with a sharp crack and a spike of pain, it was done. Varian yelped when it happened, and flailed his arms out in surprise, causing the guards to grab his forearms as well as his upper arms. A nurse brought out cloth and two wooden dowels, which were placed on either side of his wrist and wrapped tightly in the cloth, holding his wrist and hand in a straight position. His thumb was separated from his other fingers by the cloth, as they had to wrap the cloth around some of his hand to keep his wrist in place. All of the other issues were taken care of by nurses, his nose cleaned up, no longer bleeding, some pills for his pain, and some ointment rubbed onto the multitude of bruises he had sustained. They also changed out the bandages on his infected wrist for good measure. Then, they chained his arms to the sides of the bed, either so that he couldn’t remove the bandages or to just keep him in bed, and left. He could reach his sides, but not across his stomach, his fingertips barely reaching his stomach. The door clicked locked behind them, and Varian sat propped up on the soft bed and plush pillows. Now what? Sit around and wait to heal? He would be here for eternity, as his mind would never heal. Varian absent-mindedly went to pet Rudiger, only to realize that his raccoon had disappeared. Rudiger had been gone since the King showed up… hopefully he was ok. If Varian was dead… what would Ruddy do? Go back to being a scavenger out in the forests? Varian had one thing left to live for, Rudiger, and he didn’t give a single thought to his best companion that had helped him in his darkest times. He was an awful friend, awful son, just a bad person in general. 

The door clicked, and then opened showing the Queen and a guard. Not this again, Varian wanted nothing more than quiet right now, to think and sleep. 

“Hello Varian. I see you have been treated,” she greeted, stopping a short distance away from him. 

“Good job, you managed to point out the obvious. I guess it’s my turn. I heard you ran away from the King,” Varian sarcastically said. 

“I did no such thing, I simply took a break from my duties,” Arianna retorted.

“Ok sure, let’s go with that. What are you doing here? Just here since I’m back in the medical wing?” Varian questioned, too tired to try and make things interesting. He got in one remark, that would be enough for now.

“That, and the fact that I think you can have a future if you actually try, Varian,” she answered, being blunt. Varian laughed a bit, wincing at the pain in his side as he did.

“What makes you think that I want a future? I have nothing to live for,” Varian sneered, going to make a gesture but failing when his bonds hit their limit. 

“Varian, you have plenty to live for, you just haven’t found it yet. You might not ever find it if you don’t put in the effort to get past the anger,” the queen insisted, going to take a step towards him before looking to the guard and stopping herself. Weird.

“Yeah right, no one would want to be around me anymore. Even you don’t seem to want to, so why not make it easier for both of us and just leave now?” Varian scowled, irritated by Queen Arianna’s look of pity. Like she knew what was best for him. There was no changing him, each step he took into the darkness solidified his place in the kingdom.

“I chose to come here, what makes you think I don’t wish to speak with you?” She asked.

“Well for one, your standing specifically so that your guard would easily be able to block me if I could manage to get over here, which I CLEARLY can’t,” Varian pointed out, jangling the chains, “Two, you have no reason to want to talk to me after what I did to you, no one else has wanted to”. Arianna looked to the guard, then swiftly moved in front of him so that she was only a few feet away. The guard opened his mouth to say something, then quickly shut it and moved back toward the wall before resuming position. What the fuck was happening here?

“Better? Varian, I choose to talk to you because we both know that what you did was wrong, but you can do things differently now. Personally, I have decided that I need to listen to my people’s needs, and that includes you,” Arianna informed, and Varian scoffed at her ridiculous tricks. She talked so condescendingly ‘YOU did bad things, what YOU did was bad’. If she really wanted to listen to his needs, then she would’ve either let him die or let him go save his father, though it may be too late by now.

“Well, I NEED to go free my father. But you aren’t going to let me do that, are you? You might say that you are going to change, but you can’t change who you are. You are an ignorant ruler, and I am a trouble child,” Varian scoffed, his emotions a mix of hatred, sadness, and self-loathing.

“You are correct in the fact that I cannot let you go free as if nothing happened, but you are incorrect in the fact that we cannot change our ways. We decide who we are, no one else. I am willing to change and try to help people from getting to where you are now, but you have to be willing to change yourself,” Arianna replied, ignoring the insult.

“I know who I am, Your Highness. I am Varian, the kid that killed his family and destroys everything he has!” Varian snapped suddenly, trying to hold back his tears. How did he let himself slip? He would not, could not cry. Crying was for the weak, for the ones that choose to pity themselves rather than admit the truth. 

“No you are not Varian! You are the bright young child that may have chosen a path of shadows, but you can step back into the light if you try!” she assured him, tears burning in his eyes, but he held them back. How? How could she believe that? And how was she knocking down his defences that he spent so long building up? 

“What makes you so sure?” He sniffed, barely managing to keep his voice from cracking. 

“Because I know a lot of people that changed their ways. Eugene, for one, is a good example. The one I think that will matter to you though, Varian, is that your parents changed a lot before you were born,” Arianna informed, and Varian looked up at her, confused.

“Y-you knew my parents? What… were they like?” Varian asked, unable to stop himself from asking. His walls were crumbling, and his curious nature was getting the best of him. He needed to rebuild his defences, quickly, but he also HAD to know about his parents. Dad never told him about their life before he was born, this was crucial information.

“When I first met your parents, Quirin was a withdrawn and bitter person, always hiding away for days at a time. We didn’t trust him, nor did he trust us. Then he met your mother, who tended to blend in with the crowd, but Quirin saw the real her. Your mother taught you alchemy before she passed, correct?” Arianna began, pausing while Varian nodded, “Well, when she was around others, she would never talk about what she liked to do, or her life outside of work. Then, we would go off somewhere, and she would talk for hours about science and alchemy. Both of your parents tended to hide themselves away”. Varian was enveloped in the story, he could almost imagine them, just like him, hiding away from the people that rejected them. How could his dad have ever been like that, not wanting to help others?

“In the end, they grew to love each other deeply, and Quirin began to talk and be kind to everyone, hence how he became the leader of Old Corona. And your mother stopped hiding herself, and for a while she made a living off of her knowledge of science. It wasn’t long after when you were born,” Arianna finished, small tears in her eyes as she told the story of his parents. Dad never told him this stuff, Varian never felt closer to him in his life. It was odd, the person he thought would hate him the most was telling him all the things he needed to hear. Varian briefly wondered if the Queen had seen Varian as a young child, back when his mom was still alive. 

“I-I never knew…” Varian stuttered, still caught on the idea that his parents actually did understand him, they were him. Maybe death wasn’t the way to get closest to his mother, he was with her right spirit, her memory, right now. 

“So you can change, and I hope you will,” Arianna concluded, composing herself slightly.

“B-but no one will give me a chance. Not after… everything I did,” Varian mumbled, sighing. 

“If you show that you want to change. They will give you a second chance. You have to give them a reason to though,” Arianna said.

“How? I’ve lost everything… how could I change when everyone hates me? They all think they know who I am, and I can’t really prove myself from jail. I can never live up to my parents, I've never been able to…” Varian faltered, silent tears streaming down his face. Queen Arianna came over and touched his shoulders, then, much to his astonishment, pulled him into a hug. He cried into her shoulder, all of the tears that he had held back since his capture flowing freely. She rubbed his back, silently soothing him, his heart feeling lighter with a renewed sense of purpose. With her help, maybe he could change, and make his parents proud. 

After a few minutes, Varian slowly stopped crying, and the queen stepped back, still as regal as ever.

“I-I want to try, but… where do I start? The King clearly hates me, and I only have until the trial. I don’t even know when that is.” Varian said, his knees pulled up to his chest.

“The trial is in a month and a half, so we have some time, but the first thing you need to do is heal. Just rest and let yourself get better, then we can find a way to make things work,” Arianna smiled slightly, and Varian gave her a small smile.

“Alright, your highness,” he said, without a hint of malice before remembering, “Oh, if you see Rudiger, my raccoon, can you bring him here? I don’t want him to be alone”. The queen smiled, having backed toward the door somewhat.

“I will send someone to look for him,” She replied, giving him a nod in farewell as she opened the door and left, the forgotten guard not far behind. Once again, the door clicked locked, and Varian was alone with his thoughts, but he was fine with that.

He would make his parents proud, finally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And with that, we have gotten to the second half of the story line, but don't worry, the story still has a lot of life left in it! 
> 
> Brief disclaimer: I chose not to state Varian's mom's name, as I can't think of a good name for her. 
> 
> Also, uploads might slow down a bit, as I'm out of stock when it comes to chapters. Hopefully I can get a few more written quickly, but I don't want to put quantity over quality. Still, expect uploads every other day, or even just later in the evening.


	7. Quirin: Approximately two decades ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, Sorry for not uploading for a few days. This wasn't the chapter I had planned to go out, but I have been extremely sick lately and haven't actually planned out and written that chapter. I felt bad not uploading though, so I decided to add a bit of a backstory for Quirin, so I quickly wrote this out. Hopefully it's interesting enough, and I'll try to have the next chapter out soon.

Quirin was deep in a forest, quickly stomping out a fire. They couldn’t be far behind, he had to leave. He grabbed his long red cloak, swiftly clipping it around him. Rustling in the bushes sent him running, and he was smart for it. Shadowy figures followed shortly behind, following his billowing cloak through the twists and turns of the forest. Quirin’s satchel banged against his leg, clanking as its contents hit into each other. He had to find a way to slip away from Them. If he couldn’t… well, King Edmund would have some problems to deal with. They were slowly gaining on him, expertly dodging the thorn bushes and large trees that littered the trail. How would he be able to distract Them, They had been on his trail for days now. Hopefully Hector and Adira weren’t having similar issues, as it was less than pleasant to have to constantly move. Something sharp in his satchel jabbed into his pants, and with that Quirin had an idea. Continuing to run, he reached into his bag and pulled out the small daggers that had hit him, along with a bottle filled with a dusty gray powder. The chase was leading them right up to a low sturdy pine tree with low lying branches. They weren’t far from him, judging by the noise of pounding footsteps. Quiring quickly uncorked the bottle, throwing it down in a puff of powder. He took that chance to jump into the trees, cutting the clasp of the cloak so that it wouldn’t get caught in the branches and give him away. Too bad, it was his favorite and only cloak. Once Quirin felt he was at a safe height, he crouched on a large branch, grasping the daggers in case They found him. There were five of them, all in black hooded cloaks that hid their identity entirely. As the circled up, the tallest of the five began making quick hand gestures that Quirin couldn’t decipher. The other four nodded and rushed off in different directions. Quirin held his breath as the remaining figure scanned his surroundings, then they too went off in a random direction. Only once he landed safely on the ground did Quirin take a deep breath, pulling his cloak from the branches, looking at the damage he had done to the cloak. There was no way he could clasp it around him anymore, he would have to buy a new one at the next town. He would need a cloak if he was going to finish the long journey to safety, to Corona. They wouldn’t be able to reach him there, he could start over, maybe actually have a good life. Apparently the newly crowned King and Queen of Corona were quite generous people, so he may be able to negotiate the fact that he was technically illegally immigrating. It may take a smooth lie to convince them to let him live within the safe walls of Corona. Though saying that the Eighth kingdom of The Alliance had been destroyed wasn’t a total fib. 

Quirin made it to the edge of the forest without running into Them, seeing the vast landscape in front of him, the sky orange as the sun set behind the distant mountains. Make it past the mountains, and Corona would be there, his new life would be there. There was a sense of guilt for abandoning the Brotherhood, and King Edmund, but Quirin truly believed that he could find the legendary Sundrop flower within the Kingdom of the Sun. It wasn't a betrayal if he managed to protect the eight kingdoms by finding that flower. At least, that’s what Quirin told himself as he stepped out into the dying sunlight. Quirin would make sure the balance remained equal, for himself, for the brotherhood, for his true King and the child that had been sent away to have a life far from the darkness and misery of the kingdom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry for it being so short short and not actually following the main story line. You may see more of the Quirin backstory in the future if you found it interesting. It was nice to take a short break from Varian and Arianna (as much as I love them both) to write something a bit different. See you all soon with another update (Hopefully)


	8. Arianna: Day Eighteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! This time I have the actual storyline. I'll be honest, I only recently decided what I was going to do with the rest of the Story, and Quirin might have a bigger role in the story that I originally thought (Heh. Sorry to those of you that didn't like my Quirin backstory). Now, this chapter is also fairly short, so I decided to just go ahead and add it. 
> 
> Without Further ado, enjoy the read!

Arianna had an idea. 

She had talked with Varian daily over the last week, always bringing the same guard, Roger, as he tended to “Forget” to report a few things to Fredric. At least someone was on her side. It was harder to talk once Varian had been moved back into the dungeons, as the other criminals tended to get extremely loud and angry when anyone of royal status went down there. She had found a way to get past this though: a simple cloak, the hood pulled low to conceal her identity. Of course the guards knew it was her, but the inmates were forced to wonder. 

During her talks with the child, he told her that he was still worried that the people of Corona wouldn’t ever trust him if he still held the image of a criminal. Arianna still didn’t fully trust the child, but she had to give him some credit for his behavior. Varian had begun to thank the guard that brought him food, and spoke to her with respect, even if he made an insult, it was more lighthearted than before. The change in him was startling, almost too fast, which didn’t help Arianna’s distrust of him. She would remain careful, but moving him out of the dungeons couldn’t hurt. Arianna had to give him some trust if he were to trust her. He would still have guards watching him if Fredric were to agree to the idea, but it was a definite step up from his current living situation. Hopefully Fredric would see her logic, but she would have to wait and see. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arianna was sitting on the small loveseat in their room reading a book when Fredric came in, done with his duties for the day. The sun was setting, casting a pink glow across the sky, wisps of clouds looking like paint streaks in the sky. 

“Hello dear,” Fredric greeted, setting his crown on its plush stand. Arianna set down her book on the side table, and moved over to Fredric.

“How was your evening?” Arianna asked, trying to find a good way to get to the topic of Varian. Fredric was a bit testy when it came to the child, trying to push off conversation about him, unless he was getting a report from a guard. It irked her, the fact that he had been so close with Quirin, yet refused to bring up his son, or their deal with the man now frozen in stone. 

“It was… alright, those there was some disturbing news. When the scientists on the Amber Case went to try another one of their ideas, the… place… had been destroyed, many chemicals and a few other things missing,” Fredric informed, causing Arianna to take a step back and put her hand to her mouth in surprise. A few scientists from Corona had been working on finding a way to free Quirin, as both Arianna and Fredric wanted to at least know if Quirin was still alive. It was concerning that anyone would go in there and take things, as the village had been abandoned since the black rocks took over. 

“The thing that concerns me the most though, is that they destroyed Quirin’s family portrait,” Fredric said with a sigh.

“Do you think...?” Arianna faltered, knowing the answer by Fredric’s solemn frown. When Quirin still lived within New Corona he had told them that something may happen to him, but that was many years ago, They surely weren’t still after him. 

“If They were in the lab, then they saw Quirin, so They probably gave up. Though, it might be good that Varian is within the castle walls, he is safest within the castle” Arianna reassured, slyly changing the topic so as not to discuss the mystery of Quirin’s past. 

“Your right, Varian will be fine here, and They are most likely already gone…,” Fredric muttered in an obvious attempt to convince himself.

“Speaking of Varian, he is being nicer, so I thought we could reward his behavior by moving him out of the dungeons,” Arianna hesitated, seeing Fredric tense up and look over to Arianna, “I’m not saying we let him go free, but we could at least move him into an actual room as long as it locks from the outside and is cleaned out for anything potentially dangerous”.

“Arianna....,” Fredric started, the way one would speak to a child in trouble. This wasn’t right, he had no reason to use that sort of tone with her. He touched her hand, but she pulled away in irritation. This was a feeling she rarely used to feel, but it had shown up more and more over the last few weeks. 

“Dear, I think that’s a great idea, but there are too many issues with doing that,” Fredric continued, trying to quickly smooth over his mistake. 

“Name all these ‘issues’ you see then Fredric,” Arianna retorted, still annoyed despite his attempt to diffuse the situation. Maybe Varian had taught her a few things; she was almost never sarcastic, only when she argued with Willow would she make comments like that. 

“Alright, well to start with, if we move him out of the dungeons after only two weeks, it looks like we value him over others, and let him off easier since we knew his family. Two, the dungeon has some of the highest security within the castle, so Varian would be safest down there if They did happen to come for him,” Fredric defended, giving two decent points, but Arianna had her own point of view on the second statement.

“Varian could also be a sitting duck, with there only being one way out of the dungeons. If her were in the castle quarters then he could have multiple ways to get out of the castle. I know that despite what he did, you don’t want to see Varian caught by his father’s past,” Arianna pointed out, and Fredric sighed.

“You’re right Arianna, I don’t want to child to be destroyed by something he didn’t cause, I made a promise to Quirin that I would protect him if he could not. Despite that, we must wait before moving Varian out of the dungeons. We can bring this up again once he has served a month, if he continues with his current behavior,” Fredric decided, stopping any further negotiation for the time being. 

“Alright Dear,” Arianna sighed before giving him a quick kiss, “I love you”. Fredric smiled, looking into her emerald eyes with his stormy blue ones. 

“I love you too,” Fredric replied. One would never think that the had almost fallen apart a mere week ago. Thank the fates for smiling down upon them. Varian could wait, she would inform him of Fredric’s decision tomorrow, though she would let the news of the break in wait. Varian was well aware that there was a team working within his lab, but as far as he knew, it was just because Old Corona needed it’s leader back. Telling him of the theft would bring up to many questions that he didn’t need to know about just yet. He wasn’t ready.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, what did you all think? I decided to add a bit of a villain character, as the original plot line was extremely similar to A Reformation Process (One of my favorite stories on this site). This new story line is much more my speed, so get ready. Next chapter might not be up for a bit, so I'm going to go ahead and say this now.
> 
> Happy Halloween! 
> 
> Expect the next update no earlier than Friday Nov. 1st. 
> 
> Also, I would like to tell you all that I will be not be on here at all between Nov. 5 and 9, as I have a lot of outside things to do during that time! See you soon with the next chapter, from Varian's view!


	9. Varian: Day Nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, I'm Finally back. Sorry for being gone for like, three months, but I had to take a break and do some deep rediscovery of myself. You may notice that the writing style may be a bit different, as I am trying to get back into the flow of this story. I decided that I'm going to finish this story this time, so if it gets a little short or seems to end a bit too quickly, I'm Sorry. 
> 
> Also, don't expect super regular updates, as I am rather busy with a few other projects, but I should be taking any long breaks again! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this chapter, and I should have more out soon.

“Thanks Roger,” Varian said with a small smile as the guard dropped off his morning meal. Varian only knew a few of the guards on a first-name basis, as most guards didn’t see the need to give their names to criminals. It didn’t bother Varian though. Most of the people in Old Corona had known him, at least by name, whereas he was too caught up in his ideas to take the time to learn everyone’s names. If things ever got back to normal, he would have to try and make more of an effort to actually meet others. He almost refused to believe that anyone would forgive him, even if he was officially pardoned by the King and Queen. Speaking of whom, Varian was dreading his unavoidable meeting with King Fredric in a month or so, according to the guards. The two of them hadn’t met since Varian’s change of heart, his turn from the edge of the cliff. As Varian split his food with Rudiger, who had been found a few hours after Varian had been taken to the medical wing, his thoughts were once again were drawn to his life’s path. Only after coming so far did he realize just how much he took his childhood for granted. Although he wasn’t an adult yet, Varian was no child, having gone through all that he did. Going from the sunny meadows of childhood into the darkness, and up to the cliff of death, then only a week ago he walked away from the cliff and back toward the light. Never again would he find that pure innocent joy, but maybe a place a bit brighter was ahead of him. 

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was much later when the Queen stopped by. As always, she stayed on the other side of the barrier, though Varian didn’t know if it was by choice or not. Instead of sitting on his ‘bed’, Varian decided to lean against the wall next to the bars. For one, it made Varian closer to Queen Arianna’s height, and two, it made it easier for private discussions to be private from any ear’s looking for gossip and rumors. Since Varian returned to his cell, rumors had been spreading about a new staff member that came to the dungeons in a dark cloak, and no one needed to know that it was a Royal. Plus, she was hopefully coming with news on his ‘rooming’ situation. 

“Hello Varian,” Arianna greeted as she lowered the hood of her cloak. She could safely do that seeing as the nearest prisoner was three cells down.

“Your Highness,” Varian responded, jokingly giving her a slight bow, “do you, uh, have any updates on the whole, rooming… situation?”. He didn’t want to push his luck, but he also really wanted to get out of the dungeon. Nothing against the rooming, just the dim, cold, harsh interior wasn’t the nicest. Though, looking at his past, maybe he deserved it.

“Yes, I do actually, though it may not be the news you were looking for,” Arianna started, and Varian’s face fell a little, “you have to wait a few more weeks before it can be considered, but I have a feeling a few weeks is all it will be”. 

“Alright, I can do that,” Varian smiled, something he was doing more and more when having actual human contact. Not to say that Rudiger didn’t make him happy, but it was different to actually talk to people. The Queen seemed a little different today, more distant than normal, but maybe it was just the fact that Varian idea had been postponed, or something. He debating asking her about it, but not being the best at talking to people, and her status, he decided to leave his questions unasked. Instead he asked what Rapunzel had been up too. She was another topic that Varian tended to feel uncomfortable talking about, as everything he had done to land himself here had been because of his anger toward her. Rapunzel had been yet to come by; a part of Varian felt relieved at that, yet another part wished he could spill everything to her. Being closer to his age, Varian wondered if she would maybe be a bit easier to talk to. Queen Arianna wasn’t by any means hard to talk to, it’s just that he sometimes felt that she may not really understand. Varian did appreciate her faith in him and the fact that she took time from her Queenly duties to come talk to him. Arianna had finished what she had to say, and Varian looked at her, slightly embarrassed for having spaced out. The two laughed it off though, and then that look came back. What could be bothering her so much? Varian was mustering up the courage to get into a feelings talk, but Arianna left before he could get the chance. Odd, she must have some important, Royal dinner or something. It was about that time, as he heard the footsteps of multiple guards, and the sound of food trays being slid on the ground. As some guards got closer to Varian, he caught a bit of their conversation.

“What do you think about that robbery at the psycho kid’s lab yesterday. I bet it was some petty thief looking for some quick cash,” One of them said, quickly gaining Varian’s interest.

“Well, that doesn’t make sense, why would they take science stuff and not all of the valuables? Or destroy that painting of the family?” asked a second.

“Then, maybe they wanted to get revenge for what that kid did, and that was all they thought of,” retorted the first one.

“Shush, you don’t want him to hear you!” a third cut in, and the conversation was lost to him. Varian noticed that when the guard dropped his food, he avoided eye contact and tried to get out of there as fast as he could. With the snippet he caught of the conversation, Varian was too confused to bother eating at the moment, much to Rudiger’s annoyance. The guards had to have been talking about his lab, but the Queen had made no mention of a break in at his lab. As far as he knew, no one had been there since his arrest. So if there was news of a break in at his house going around the castle, who had gone to his lab, and what for? Had Queen Arianna been hiding something about his lab from him, she must have been if they had been to Old Corona. No one went there, it was a rubble-ridden ghost town, the only inhabitants being the black rocks. At least Varian now knew why the Queen had been acting strange.

The next day would undoubtedly be an interesting one, as Varian had some questions to ask, and he would not try to be nice about it, not after being lied to. He tried to change and be good, and he still wanted to, but trust and respect had to be earned, even for Royals.


	10. Varian: Day Twenty

Varian sat in a corner, blocking out the world around him. 

His mind was racing, thinking of any other things he might have been lied to about. A part of Varian told him that he was being unreasonable, and he knew that he was more than a bit sensitive when it came to lies and promises, but that couldn’t his anger from bubbling to the surface again. With this anger came some guilt and sadness; guilt over not being able to change like his parents allegedly had, but that could’ve been a lie too. Then he was sad, as he didn’t know where his trust and faith in others had gone and when, which circled back around to anger at all the people who had lied to him. It was like a whirlpool of negativity, and he jumped right in at the slightest whisper. So then the guilt came back, and the sadness, and the anger. Round and round until it all came burning down. Rudiger must have noticed this change, as he had hidden himself away late the past night.

Queen Arianna came in a little after his lunch had been brought and swiftly thrown against the stone walls. Her face showed concern, but that didn’t matter to Varian. 

“Varian?” she asked when he didn’t so much as acknowledge that she had come.

“Varian, are you ill or did something happen?” she questioned, to which Varian chuckled to himself.

“Did something happen…” Varian repeated, more to himself that the Queen, “You never told me of anything happening”. To that Arianna was silent for a moment.

“Is this about the King’s decision?” Arianna questioned, and Varian finally looked over toward her.

“Not at all, it was purely your choice, Your majesty,” Varian chuckled, imagining the cogs turning in her brain. 

“I’m not sure what you’re talking about Varian,” The Queen said after some hesitation. 

“Well, maybe you should ask your guards, after all, they were nice enough to tell me about a lab break-in,” Varian announced, deciding that the fun was wearing out. He wanted to see her try and explain her choices; from the look of realization on her face, it would be fairly entertaining to watch. Although she stayed composed, her guard had fallen a bit due to her daily talks with him, and he got better at reading her. 

“I will have to talk to the staff about appropriate conversations down here,” Arianna started, pausing to think, “Varian, I’m sorry I-”.

“Lied?” Varian interrupted, surprising the Queen, “Oh, I’m sure you are”.

“I never lied to you Varian, I simply didn’t tell you everything,” Arianna excused, guilt seeping into her voice.

“Same difference to me. I should’ve seen it coming, I guess Rapunzel gets it from you,” Varian began, “but what I want to know is how you learned of this break-in. No one lives in Old Corona anymore, so what was your staff doing out there?”.

It took her a minute to respond, clearly her emotions were getting the best of her, “We had sent a team out to study the amber”.

“Mhmm, that’s all? Another thing that I should’ve been told about,” Varian retorted, standing up and moving away from the corner. Arianna, moved away from the barrier instinctively, and her guard took a step toward her. Varian wasn’t sure if he cared or not, as he had made sure to bury his emotions deep in himself when he heard her footsteps echoing in the hall. 

“Varian, I thought it would be best if I didn’t tell you these things. You were doing well, and I didn’t want more weighing down on you,” Arianna admitted with a sigh, meeting his cold eyes, with her own sad, green ones. 

“Well, that worked out well didn’t it, Your Majesty,” Varian scoffed, “I think we’re done here, as I don’t know the truth from the lies anymore”. He turned away from her, irritatingly unsatisfied with the conversation. 

“Varian, please,” Arianna faltered as Varian ignored her and stared through the window blankly. A few moments later, he could hear footsteps retreating toward the door out of the dungeons. Varian quickly checked to make sure he was alone before leaning his forehead on the cold, rough, stone wall. How was he feeling nothing? He was empty, and more alone than ever having cast out the one person that had talked to him. It was her fault, as she hid the truth from him, but why was the first thing he felt after the conversation regret? It wasn’t a lot, but this was there, steadily growing in strength as the sun set and the silence overwhelmed him like the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not the longest chapter, but I wanted to get this out for you all! The next chapter is going to be day Twenty as well, but with Arianna, so its a Semi Two Part chapter (i guess). 
> 
> See you all soon with the next part!


	11. Arianna: Day Twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry for the wait, but here's the chapter. It's a short one again, as I have some things going on outside of this story. Despite that, I hope you enjoy!

Arianna had made a mistake.

She was so sure that the best thing for Varian was to keep him isolated from the problems slowly growing around him. If he didn’t know about them, then he would have no reason to once again shut out the light. Yet he did, or so it seemed. Arianna wondered what would have changed, if anything, if she had told him of the break-in, of the Amber Case, of her and Fredric’s agreement with his father. After meeting with him, her other duties were put on hold, as she was far too distracted to think through legal terms and building designs for new housing. A part of her wondered how Varian had managed to slip into her thoughts so easily, but most of her simply put it up to having seen him as a young child when Quirin would come to tell them news of Old Corona. No matter the reasons, the guilt she felt was undeniable. 

Seeing as she took leave from her duties, Arianna went to one of her favorite spots within the castle walls to think, the library. The peace of being alone, yet surrounded by knowledge always helped her when she needed to think. Also, most of the staff had learned to not bother her when she was in there, as over the years she would be in there quite often to think of her once-lost Rapunzel. So, Arianna sat on one of the many plush couches with a random book, Grimm’s Fairy Tales, open to one of the pages. Although she had a book, the last thing she planned to do was read. Rather, it was just another blocker to keep the staff from interrupting her thoughts. 

What should she do? Would it be best to tell Varian everything, even though he didn’t trust her, or wait and find another way to fix things? Was there another way to fix things, or was Varian content to let himself fall back into his old routine? If he was, then could anything get through to him? Arianna debated her options, unable to find a clear answer. Though she knew that some situations had no clear answer, Arianna hoped that there would be one here. Despite this, she was left having to make a choice knowing that it could have many different outcomes, good or bad. Who would’ve thought that a single choice that she had thought over would have such a large impact in the end? Being Queen, she knew very well that every choice could change someone’s life, but sometimes she failed to think through the ones that she made without a crown on her head. 

In the end, Arianna decided that she couldn’t make a hasty choice, and she should think on it overnight and see what conclusion she came to tomorrow. This was partially due to the fact that she had been in the library for a good few hours, and it was getting close to dinner time, but also, she didn’t feel ready to choose yet. Let Varian calm down, and she would come to a decision and talk with him tomorrow. 

When Arianna went to dinner that night, it was unusually quiet, despite her daughter’s attempts to start conversations. Fredric was clearly concerned over what had kept her in the library for hours, but he would not ask. It was an unspoken rule between them; they would never intrude on the other if they were in their place of thought. Rapunzel either didn’t realize, which Arianna doubted, or picked up enough hints to not question it. It was odd, Arianna wasn’t upset, sad, any sort of emotion. All that was there was regret. It wasn’t a lot, but this was there, steadily growing in strength as night approached and questions overwhelmed her like the shadows.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope the next one will be longer, as it is fairly important to plot ;)
> 
> For now, I'll try to post again soon, as I am trying post in less than a week every time!


	12. Varian: Day Twenty-Five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back again! 
> 
> I'm going to be honest, I went on a bit of a rant in this chapter, so sorry for that, but I felt it was still important to include.  
(Don't worry, the entire chapter IS NOT a bunch on philosophical crap, just a part of it) ;)
> 
> Enjoy reading!

This emptiness reminded him of the days after the blizzard.

After Varian had been refused help, he had returned to his home, empty and lost. His father was gone, his friends were gone, yet his mind couldn’t comprehend how or why. This feeling now was all too familiar to him. The difference was that a part of Varian still seemed to function, as anger never grew enough to become his main feeling. Instead, as days passed, he sat in the corner, thinking, remembering, but with no emotion to go with it. 

No one had even said a word to him since he talked with Queen Arianna five days ago. Rudiger had come out, sitting with him, and bringing food over to him. Varian could tell that Rudiger was concerned, but Varian couldn’t even talk to him, as Varian didn’t know how to explain this. So instead, he sat, stroking Rudiger, as he thought back to when he was much younger. His Mother and he had gone out to look at Mushrooms, rocks, anything that caught their eye. Varian had always been curious, and so when he saw something glimmer in the forest, he wandered off from his Mother and the toadstools. It turned out to be a piece of an old sword, but one thing led to another, and Varian ended up not knowing which way to go to get back home. He had been scared, terrified even, as it grew darker, and the night began to come alive. Varian knew that there were a multitude of animals within the forest, specifically wolves, as he heard them howl late at night. His first instinct was to run, run in any direction in the hopes of finding his way back, but he had decided to think like his parents would. They had always told him that if he got lost to stay in one area so that they could find him. With this idea now seeming to be the best idea, he sat down next to a big tree to wait. The noises of the night scared him, but he had faith that his dad would find him, that everything would be fine. That time, his faith was well placed, as Quirin found him not long after he stopped wandering. 

He didn’t have his parents to save him anymore though, and even if he did, Varian wasn’t sure what he needed saving from. People always said that you have to make mistakes to get wiser, but Varian had made so many by this point, he wondered how many more he could make before ending up dead. At one point, death was a fine option, but now, doubt had been instilled in that path, making him look for other options. There had to be some, everything had variables, the biggest ones in life simply being humans. Unpredictable, ever-learning, a variable that was impossible to get rid of. Even if humanity stopped growing, there would always be emotion to make things harder. Varian had been missing that factor, the human one. He had cut his emotions out of the equation, thinking that if he ignored them they wouldn’t get in the way. Yet, they were still there, hidden away, growing subconsciously. Then, he had forced himself into being an empty shell, this time, it happened on its own. The outcome was that he realized what he was missing in his attempts to come back from the cliff. Varian couldn’t take the same path of empty emotion, he needed a roundabout way, a human way, to turn his life around. Although he had started down that path, he was missing a few important pieces, ones he had cast out when his father was frozen. Faith, hope, trust; all the things that he had to give to receive. Yes, he had issues, a lot of them, especially with putting faith in others after everything, yet, he would never gain trust if he didn’t trust others. He would get nowhere by evaluating every move and thinking only of the negatives. By no means would he turn around and be an optimist like Rapunzel… but he could maybe try and put a little faith in humanity, so that it wouldn’t lose all faith in him. It was funny how the biggest of lessons could be learned by simply sitting, empty and broken, and remembering what one had lost. He would undoubtedly swing back and forth, it was impossible to always be happy, but this time Varian had pushed forward, rather than spinning in a circle. He had realized what he needed, the missing part of the equation, but now, he had to put the pieces he had together.

It was time he tried to have an audience with the queen

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The guards were shocked when he asked them if he could talk to the captain. 

Varian knew that he would have to talk with the captain if he wanted to speak with Queen Arianna, the normal guards on patrol weren’t high enough on the chain to talk with. The two guards he spoke with seemed confused by his sudden question, and rightfully so, seeing as he had been silently sitting in the corner for the last five days. They laughed, walking away without responding, but Varian knew how the guard worked well enough to know that the word would spread that a prisoner had asked to speak with the captain. He just had to Hope that the Captain would come, although the idea of it made him uncomfortable. Knowing he had at least a few hours to kill, Varian sat himself on his bed, Rudiger jumping up next to him. All he had to do was wait, and he was used to that.

\-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Varian’s hope paid off, as it was the captain that brought him his dinner.

“Captain,” Varian greeted, getting a nod in reply as the tray was passed over to him, “I have a request for you”.

“And what would that be?” the Captain replied, looking down on Varian.

“I would like an audience with the Queen,” Varian stated, noting the slight look of surprise from the Captain, who had probably been informed of their last meeting. 

“Sorry Boy, but a criminal isn’t allowed to request an audience with royalty,” he informed, shutting Varian down by walking away. Varian sat back to eat, giving Rudiger the apple off the tray.

“Well, that’s not what I planned on, but let’s see what happens,” Varian sighed, Rudiger chittering to him in reply. A part of Varian had figured that since the Queen had come to him on multiple occasions, he would get past that particular law. Well, at least he knew now that he had the same rights as the others around him, which wasn’t helpful, but he couldn’t do anything about it. Maybe- maybe, the captain would still at least tell Queen Arianna. It was a lot of faith for him to have, so he didn’t really believe it, but only time could tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you all enjoyed!
> 
> I'm not sure how much longer i'm going to drag out this story, when I first came back from Hiatus, I figured it would only have about 6 more chapters, but here we are, not as close as I thought we were to the end :3
> 
> See you soon with the next chapter!


	13. Quirin: Many Years Ago (Part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again!
> 
> I didn't think I would be doing another Quirin chapter, as he isn't a character that I feel I can really write well, but I thought it would be better to include this rather than explain it all as exposition. Expect a third Quirin chapter soon, then we should be done with his perspective. 
> 
> With that, Read On!

Quirin had been in Corona for three years now. 

When he had first arrived, Quirin had quickly informed the royals on the destruction of the Dark Kingdom. They had been sympathetic, quickly allowing him into Corona. Along with giving him a new life in Corona, they also offered him a job on the royal staff, which he graciously accepted. Quirin knew that it would be temporary; after his last job within Edmund’s castle, he wanted nothing more than to fade into the background. It was safer that way, seeing as he was being hunted. Before he could settle into a simple life, he needed some money to get himself a house, something provided by the castle with his current job. Over the years, Quirin had grown to take the position as a royal advisor to the King and Queen, now with his own apprentice, a young man by the name of Nigel. Quirin had been in the kingdom for only a year when the Royal Princess Rapunzel was born and then swiftly snatched away. He had supported them as they pushed to continue keeping the kingdom up and running, life never slowing for them to grieve properly. That time had reminded him of when he had stood with King Edmund and the other Brotherhood members as their young prince was whisked away to safety. 

As Quirin grew used to his role within the castle, loosening up somewhat as time went on, he met a girl. She was one of the hand-maidens, and was within the Queen’s circle of maids. The first time they had talked was when Quirin had been sent to find Arianna, who was most likely off somewhere mourning her missing daughter, and the girl had refused to let him into her chambers at first. The girl had shown herself to be caring, independant, strong, and many other things as they talked. Slowly, they had started seeing each other after their duties were done, and now, almost two years later, recently married and expecting a child, they were ready to leave the duties of the castle for a slower life. Quirin had been offered a position as the next leader for the small sister country Old Corona. Their current leader was getting up in years, and never had children to pass on the title to. It was a bit of a shock for him, having only been in Corona for a few years, but, once again, he took the position gratefully. The only downside is that Old Corona was a good way away from the Castle, so the expecting couple wouldn’t be able to visit their Royal friends often. Arianna, Fredric, and his wife were the only people who were aware of Quirin’s situation, so their bond was solidified by secrecy. 

As Quirin and his wife said their goodbyes, Qurin clapping Nigel on the back, sure he would do well as the new advisor, he stopped in front of Fredric and Arianna. 

“Your Majesties,” he greeted, bowing slightly.

“Quirin, you will do well as the leader of Old Corona,” Fredric smiled, his wife stepping forward.

“Come visit once your child is born, we would love to meet them,” She had said, a sad yet joyous smile crossing her face. Quirin had almost been worried about this subject; he didn’t want to widen the wound on their hearts. After a short conversation, Quirin and his wife boarded the carriage with their few belongings, and headed off for their new lives in the simple land of Old Corona. They would be happy, safe, and live life as it came. No one was after him now, and with his wife and child, he could fade into the background and grow into his life he had been waiting for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there's that!
> 
> Sorry to those of you who don't like my headcanon so far, but it's gonna be a bit of a wild ride with the way I hope to take this! Also, I chose not to give Quirin's wife a name for two reasons,   
1\. I am not particularly good at naming characters well, and   
2\. I didn't want to really do much with her character as we know almost nothing about her. 
> 
> For those of you who want to know: (SLIGHT SPOILER I GUESS???): The next chapter is very much important to plot (I promise) and will explain whats going on here, so be ready for that!
> 
> See you all soon!


	14. Varian: Day Twenty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, sorry It took me so long to upload this. I've had some massive Writer's Block, along with being pretty busy in general. That said, this chapter may be a slightly lower quality, as I've just tried to push through my Block and get this out for you all. 
> 
> With that, enjoy!

It seemed Varian’s newfound faith was turning out well for him.

Whether the Captain said something or not, Queen Arianna came to speak with him in the middle of the afternoon. Something about her was a bit different, he could see it in her eyes. It was true that she normally wore a mask of elegance that hid her inner thoughts and emotions from him, but this time, she didn’t seem to be hiding them, they just… weren’t there. At the same time, he could see so many feelings in her, it was unsettling to say the least. 

“Your Highness,” Varian greeted as she and her guard stopped. 

“Good Afternoon Varian,” she greeted, and he noticed the breath she took before continuing, “Mind if I join you?”. 

“Wh-What? Join me?” he stuttered, shocked that she would just come up and cross the barrier that separated them, “Uhh, I mean- sure”. Arianna chuckled lightly at his flustered response, and the guard that had joined her unlocked his cell door so that she could enter. Varian had no idea what was going on in her mind, seeing as she was making this choice now. She had only ever really been near him one other time, when she had told him that she had known his parents. With her now only a few feet from him, and he was able to reach her if he wanted to, Varian wasn’t sure what to do. He kinda just stood awkwardly, petting Rudiger, who crawled from his shoulders into his arms. 

“So…. Uh- heh- um… yeah… I’m sorry for the other day, I should’ve heard you out” Varian apologized, trying to make the situation less weird. 

“It’s Alright Varian, It was a mistake on my part to not tell you the news once I learned of it. I thought it was the right decision, but I see now that I was wrong,” Arianna replied, surprising Varian somewhat. He didn’t think she would admit that she had wronged him, it didn’t seem very Regal of her to give an apology to a kid in a jail cell. Yet he should have seen it coming, over time the sharp line of status was fading, or at least getting a little looser. 

“Why did you decide to not tell me?” Varian asked, the question that had been floating in the back of his mind coming to the surface.

“Well, for one, we hadn’t told you of the fact that multiple people had been sent to Old Corona for different reasons,” Arianna started, “but also, The King and I may know who broke into your home”. This fact hit him like a shockwave, causing him to take a step back, and almost drop Rudiger. 

“What? You do? Who- why- How could you know?” Varian spluttered, the questions piling up in his brain. 

“You may want to sit down,” she replied with a sigh, and Varian was glad to oblige, “I told you before that I knew your parents, correct?”. Varian nodded, and she continued.

“Well, I knew your parents because they had been on the castle staff before going to Old Corona. Quirin had been our Royal Advisor, and your mother had been one of my personal Hand-maidens. They had both been there Rapunzel was taken, and helped us a lot in their time within the castle,” Arianna explained, giving him a fact that he partially knew. He had known that his parents had once been part of the castle staff, but not the specific jobs they worked. It surprised him that they would’ve wanted to leave Corona and the castle to go to Old Corona, seeing that the conditions were so different in the two sister countries.

“What does that have to do with the break-in?” Varian asked, trying to fit the puzzle together.  
“That wasn’t the big part. While your mother had lived in Corona her whole life, your father is from a different kingdom,” Arianna said, and it took Varian a minute to comprehend what she was saying. His dad was a migrant? Why would he not have said anything, ever? How did a migrant get to be the Royal Advisor?

“What kingdom?” was the question he ended up asking.

“An old kingdom known as the Dark Kingdom. It was never one of the allied kingdoms, and was very isolated, so it’s not in many history books. The kingdom was the closest to us though, so we had done a small amount of business with them,” she explained, bringing even more questions that didn’t have time to be answered. 

“How did he become part of the castle staff if he was from another kingdom?” Varian questioned, knowing that he was veering off the topic, but needing to know more about his parents. 

“When Quirin came to us, he told us about the kingdom’s destruction and asked to live in Corona despite not having migration papers. The King and I realized that he may have been lying, but he seemed honest. We also reasoned that if others had made it out of the kingdom, they would have been with Quirin, so he may have been the only survivor of his kingdom. After he informed us he had been on the castle staff in his kingdom, we decided to let him onto ours. Eventually he just rose into the position as our advisor,” Arianna answered, Varian soaking up the information. 

“So my father, possibly the only person to survive the death of his kingdom, was your royal advisor, and then the leader of Old Corona…” Varian summed up, looking at Arianna and trying to imagine her having a simple, average conversation with his parents. 

“After he met your mother, he told us that he wanted a simpler life, especially if he were to raise a child. The previous leader of Old Corona never had kids, and was getting quite sick, so we set Quirin and your mother there after they married. Your mother was also pregnant with you at the time,” Arianna told him with a small smile, a happy one that was also laced with sadness. 

“Wait, so you’ve known of my existence for my entire life.” Varian said, stating a fact more than asking a question. 

“Indeed, I first met you when you were just a baby. You wouldn’t remember us in your childhood, as the last time we had ever met was very briefly, when your mother passed,” Arianna went quiet at the end, and he could hear the sadness in her voice. How did he never remember her? He had been six when his mother passed, so he should’ve remembered it.

“Why did you not tell me this before… everything happened,” Varian asked, knowing this was the question he had wanted to ask since the beginning. 

“Varian, you were buried so deep in your anger, and your grief. If I had told you then, you most likely would have taken it as me trying to manipulate you. I wasn’t sure how much you remembered or had been told, so I wouldn’t have even known where to start. Also, I was unaware that you were the same Varian until I had seen your father within the amber, or I would have come when I had heard of you from Rapunzel,” she explained, putting her hand on his shoulder as he stared blankly, thinking of all the things that would’ve been different if he had known. The contact was odd to him, yet somewhat comforting, knowing that she had actually known him at one point. 

“So then… is that why you’re helping me, because I'm the son of a friend?” Varian bluntly asked, seeing a different motivation for her actions now.

“That was part of it, but I also believe that as a person, you deserve a second chance,” Arianna replied, now sitting next to him on the bunk. He wasn’t used to people being so close, especially not royals that he had known but didn’t know. The truth had a weight to it, one Varian didn’t realize came with knowledge. He had so many questions, ones that she couldn’t answer. Some that no one could truly answer. 

“We-we got off topic… the- the break-in. What did that have to do w-with my dad’s past?” Varian stuttered, trying to control all the emotions he felt. It was so much, hopefully this would be less to take in.

“Right… Before your father left for Old Corona, he asked to speak with the King and me in private. He told us that during his travels, he was being hunted. A group of people had come to the castle before it’s destruction, asking for things that didn’t exist. However, the one that did exist that they asked for, was the sundrop flower, which, of course, wasn’t in the dark kingdom. It was the real reason Quirin had come to Corona, to find the sundrop before the others did. Quirin wasn’t sure if they knew where he was or not, or if they were still looking for him. He had asked us, incase they were still after him, that we would protect you and your mother if he could not,” Arianna paused, taking a breath, “We believe that they had found your father, but since they couldn’t… destroy him… they just destroyed the house. This also means that they may be after you instead”.

The last line hit him hard, people might be trying to kill him. It was all just a hypothesis, but if they were correct… Varian barely felt it as Arianna put her arm around him, and he leaned against her, his brain running full speed. His Dad, all the things he didn’t know, that he had learned from someone other than his family. There had to be more to the story, things that Arianna didn’t know, things that his father had hidden from everyone. For now though, Varian just needed to process the piles of information that he had now, including the fact that he may be the next target on a power-hungry group’s hit list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And there you have it. The exposition chapter is done! Hopefully I explained it decently, though I know I left some things out for a reason. ;)
> 
> Also, just putting this out there. I know my headcannon may be a bit confusing, so I have been working on a full backstory for the Quirin/Varian story, starting from Quirin leaving the Dark kingdom, up through most of Varian's childhood. If you would like to read my full backstory for them, I'm more that happy to add it as we wrap this one up!
> 
> See you all soon with the next chapter (hopefully) cuz shit's about to get real.


	15. Arianna: Day Thirty-Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go! After watching the final episode of TTS, I've been more inspired than ever to get this story to it's ending, so I got a writing. 
> 
> I also realized that Arianna hadn't been getting any chapter's recently, so this may not be a super eventful or long chapter, but I needed to give her some attention.
> 
> With that, get reading!

It was funny how quickly things could change, for better or worse. 

Arianna saw a quick change in Varian after she had gone into his cell ten days ago. That choice was one that Fredric wasn’t fond of, but to Arianna, it made all the difference. Her going in hopefully told Varian that she trusted him, and he should trust her. This seemed to have worked, as since then, she would go down and sit with Varian for a few hours everyday, telling him about his parents. There was so little that he knew, though she didn’t know everything either, he seemed happy to learn anything he could. He would smile, laugh, and sometimes she would catch him wiping his eyes slightly in the middle of a story. Arianna had to admit, seeing him just be a teen made her happy, but also brought back some of the ache from the years she had lost with her daughter. Speaking of Rapunzel, she tended to avoid the topic of Varian, and was yet to speak with him, but Arianna had caught her on multiple occasions standing at the top of the stairwell. She would look down for a few minutes, maybe even take a few steps into the dungeon, but would always turn away in the end. Maybe that was good, as Varian would often be lost in thought for most of the day, and if he was startled, he would get a bit grumpy. What he thought about was only a guess to her, but she could make quite a few good guesses. 

Hopefully he was in a good mood today, as things were about to change. A month had passed with Varian in the castle, and there were only two weeks until his trial, something that neither of them were looking forward to. With this in mind, Fredric had told her that morning that he had fixed a room within the castle for Varian to stay in until the trial. It had surprised her that Fredric was the one to set it all up, or even to have remembered the idea at all. 

Arianna made her way down to Varian with two guards following behind her. As usual, Varian was sitting with his raccoon, lost in thought. His raccoon, however, did notice, and didn’t hesitate to snap Varian out of his thoughts. 

“Oh- Uh, Hi Your Highness! I- uh heh- I didn’t notice you there,” Varian stuttered, causing Arianna to chuckle slightly. He did this every time, but Arianna never minded, he had always been a little bit like that. 

“Nice to see you too Varian. I have a bit of a surprise for you,” Arianna informed, watching him smile as he muttered under his breath briefly, thinking. One of the guards opened his cell door, and Varian waited, probably guessing that she planned to go in to him. 

“Come on out, we’re going on a trip, and bring your raccoon. I am sorry to say that you will have to be shackled though,” Arianna smiled, watching Varian stand there as one of the guards cuffed his hands. His raccoon quickly settled on his shoulder, and the group set out. As they made their way down the corridor, plenty of whispers and jeers could be heard from other criminals, but Varian did well ignoring them, though he was faintly muttering under his breath. The group made their way through the halls, toward the wing where Varian would be staying. At one point, they crossed paths with Rapunzel, Cassandra, and Eugene, who quickly avoided a conversation and headed the opposite direction as them. Varian seemed like he had wanted to talk, but he didn’t take the chance, so they continued on. As they got close to the room, Varian caught on to what was happening, and Arianna could see the excitement in his eyes as they came to a stop. Arianna stood with Varian as one of the guards unlocked the doors, which had been altered so that Varian would be locked in, and then opened them. It was an average room within the castle, but compared to Varian’s previous housing, it was a big step up. He now had a soft bed, a big window (still barred though), a few changes of fresh clothes, some notebooks and pencils, and a few choice books that Arianna had found in the library. The books were science ones, mostly about alchemy and engineering, as she wasn’t quite sure what his book preferences were. His room was also connected to a bathroom, so he had everything he needed except food, which would still be the same as normal. Varian looked around happily, even happier once uncuffed. Like a child on Christmas might, he looked at every book, flipped through the notebooks, and thanked her about a thousand times. 

“Actually, this was all set up by the King, I just got you the notebooks, clothes, and books,” Arianna admitted, and Varian paused, turning to her.

“Wait- King Fredric… did all this for me?” Varian questioned, and Arianna nodded, “Wow, I- I didn’t think-”.

“You earned it Varian, even my Husband has to admit that, plus, he also owes it to your family,” Arianna pointed out. 

“I guess so, I just- uhm…” Varian faltered, looking between her and the stack of books on the desk.

“I understand, the rest of the day is your’s to get settled in,” Arianna said with a smile, leaving with the guards. As they closed and locked the doors, Arianna heard him talking to either himself or his raccoon excitedly. Today was a big improvement for both Varian and Fredric, and Arianna could help but hum an old tune to herself as she made her way to her study.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Be warned, this next week is very busy for me, so there may not be an update until next weekend or later ;-;
> 
> Also, this is just a guess, but I would say there are four or five more chapters until the end of this story! Once this story is over, I may add a few of my random writing that I think are good enough to be online, but I've decided not to do anymore TTS fandom writings as the series is all wrapped up.
> 
> See you with the next chapter who knows when!


	16. Varian: Day Fourty-two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long. I've been super busy, and also had a massive writers block whenever I got time to write. That's also why this chapter may seem a bit disconnected and is pretty short (though that seems to be pretty normal now)
> 
> Seeing as COVID-19 has cancelled most anything that isn't online, I should have plenty of time to write now (fingers crossed) and get this done for y'all.

Varian was happier than he had been in a while, yet also not. 

Although he didn’t have his parents anymore, he felt closer to them than he ever had, hearing tales of their past from the Queen. There were so many things that he had never known, like his dad’s love for Cocoa, or how his mother had given his dad a ring that held a small gem that she had made for him. Even when he missed his parents with a sharp grief, there was still some joy in knowing that they would live in his memory, the real them. To avoid these moments, Varian had started a routine. Every night after his dinner would be dropped off, Varian would write a letter to his parents, telling his thoughts, his feelings, the things he would never say to anyone but himself. The letters sat, unsigned, in one of his notebooks. That was the one thing he always left out, he never ended the letters. If they were signed, then it almost seemed like he actually had someone to send them to. Just the simple routine of writing gave him both something to do and something to look forward to. 

Tonight, he had just finished writing his letter, closing the notebook and slipping it into one of the desk drawers. Varian debated reading through one of the books again, having finished them all within the first few days due to actually having something to do. On top of the stack of books was a second notebook, filled with his science notes and chemical solutions to destroy the amber. It was still his goal to get his father out, to somewhat fix his mistake. Alongside that project were a few other smaller ideas, mixtures that could be used in defense. Most of them were similar to his containment gel, though a few could actually do damage if need be. After everything that happened, Varian was content to find ways to avoid confrontation rather than actually fight. 

They were always on the back of his mind. Varian wasn’t really sure who they were, no one did, but he guessed that they were probably followers of Demons like Zhan Tiri. That made the most sense at least, seeing as they asked about powerful relics, according to Queen Arianna. It was possible that they were simply scientists or something along those lines, except that they were hunting people, most significantly his dad. Paranoia quickly became his best friend, as the noise of the guards making their rounds, or even the whistling wind would cause him to jump. Of course, it was highly improbable that anyone would try and break into the castle just for revenge… but then again, Varian had done exactly that. What was paranoia without a bit of truth behind it? Managing to get to his room in the castle might have been a bit harder, as there were guards outside his door all the time. Even with shifts changed, guards never left his door, so that wasn’t an option to get in. The window wasn’t either, as it was a good way off the ground, and was also barred. Those were the only two ways into the room, and both were securely locked down, both to keep him in and others out, and yet he could help the lingering fear that kept him up at night. There was one time a day that he wasn’t constantly checking over his shoulder, and that was when he was talking with the Queen. Varian decided that it was simply having another person in the room, and refused to look into it more. It seemed that anyone he got attached to ended up having something horrible happen to them, Ruddiger being the only exception, so it was best to avoid any sort of close relationships of any sort. Besides, she had better things to do that be friends with a criminal teen. She was the Queen for Fucks sake. Sure she knew his parents and him longer than he had realized, but that didn’t mean Varian wanted her to be a stand in mother or guardian or whatever.

Varian really needed to stop thinking so hard about those things, and focus on the alchemy. Even if he couldn’t actually do any alchemy, he needed to have plenty prepared for when he could. He also probably needed to think about the trial, having only a week left. Varian didn’t have any idea about what he actually had to do at the trial, if anything; he guessed he would probably just sit there while adults talked and decided his fate and whatnot. Before last week, Varian would’ve been significantly more worried, but clearly the King was starting to get over himself and see that he was trying to fix his mistake, or at least patch up the cracks. The new ‘housing’ was a big step for both of them. For Varian, it showed that people saw him as less of a criminal, that he was on the right track. As for the King, it proved that maybe- MAYBE- he wasn’t a total jackass. Maybe Varian’s opinion was a bit biased, but it was also pretty fair, though the Queen probably would say otherwise. If not, Varian wasn’t sure how the two would’ve ended up married. 

Varian made his way over to his bed, flopping onto his back, startling a sleeping Ruddiger. After some angry chittering, Ruddiger came over and laid with Varian, as he did almost every night. Seeing as Varian was constantly on edge, it wasn’t very surprising that ruddiger did this, as it helped ease the paranoia. The only light was from the moon, shining dimly onto the floor in front of his bed. As he lay there, he could faintly hear the two guards outside his room bickering over something, and was glad that the watch shift was coming up. At midnight the guards switched, and judging by the moonlight, it was around that time. 

Once he could finally hear the guards switch, from the four voices outside his door, Varian sighed, glancing around the room once more before closing his eyes. Exhaustion beat out the urge to stay away just in case, and Varian began to drift off, barely hearing the door open or feeling the tiny prick of a needle in his upper arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There we go, inching closer to the end!
> 
> As always, I don't really know when I'll have the next chapter, I'm trying to make it a really good one, (better than the others at least)
> 
> Also, I am currently working on a few side projects, which have had more focus recently (sorry ;-;)
> 
> Anyways, not important, I'll be back with another chapter at some point.

**Author's Note:**

> Not my best work, but hopefully this story will get better with time.  
I wanted to give a shout out to the stories that inspired me to write my own! You will probably find some similarities between some of these stories, but all of the words in this story were from my small brain 
> 
> Plus Est En Vous  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/13414845
> 
> The Sun's Promise  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/20810147/chapters/49464701
> 
> The Reformation Process  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/15687417/chapters/36450006
> 
> Prolonged Darkness  
https://archiveofourown.org/works/14448051/chapters/36744849
> 
> I really suggest you check them out! They are all great stories.


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